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Book_ 


3 


Copyright W_< H 19 Feu 


COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 


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' / Of 



COPYRIGHT, 1923, BY A. FLANAGAN COMPANY 





PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 


SEP 2 A ’23 

©CIA758338 



THE STRIKE AT SHANE’S. 

CHAPTER I. 


EE up, there, Dobbin ! Whoop ! ” With a 
shout that rang through the forest Tom 
Shane let the heavy “ black snake ” whip 
fall on the flanks of the two willing horses. 
Again and again the heavy whip fell on the “off” 
horse, which was apparently unable to “pull even” 
with the younger horse on the “near” side. The 
horses tugged at the traces, and floundered about in 
the mud, but were unable to move the heavy load to 
which they were hitched. 

“Be aisy there now, Tom, will ye? It’s stuck ye 
are now, sure enough,” said an Irishman who came 
lip just then. 

“It’s all on account of that lazy Dobbin,” said Tom, 
“he didn’t pull a pound.” 

“Arrah, there now, it’s forgettin’ the age o’ the 
horse ye are. Sure , there wasn’t a horse on the place 
cor Id pull icid him whin he was younger. It’s gettin’ 
along in the years I am mesilf, an’ age will be weariiv 
the strength o’ a horse the same as a man. Let ’em 
stand ’til I get a bit of a pry under the wheel. ” 

He procured a fence rail, and proceeded to put it un- 






der the wheel as a lever to lift it a little out of the 
“chuck hole” where it had stopped. Those who are 
familiar with the ungravelled roads of Indiana in 
former years need not be told what a “chuck hole” is ; 
but to those not experienced in such matters it might 
be explained that heavy hauling over these roads will 
wear deep holes with sharp edges, and when the vlieel 
of a loaded wagon drops into one of these holes it is 
very difficult to pull it out. Thanks to an increased 
population, such roads are not so numerous as they 
were in former years, and teaming is not necessarily 
such a horse-killing business as it used to be. 

“Now, will ye give ’em another pull?” said Mike, 
who had his “ bit of a pry” under the wheel, and was 
dangling on the end of it doing his best to lift the 
wheel a little. 

“Give ’em a sclnnall taste of the whip, to encourage 
’em a little,” he cried. 

Again the whip was unsparingly used by Tom, and 
the two horses exerted all their powers, but only suc¬ 
ceeded in moving the wagon enough to let Mike’s pry 
slip out, and he came sprawling down in the mud. 
But more serious results had followed. Old Dobbin was 
down, and Tom, in his anger, was cutting him with his 
whip to make him get up. 

“Hould on there, bye,” shouted Mike, coming for¬ 
ward, covered with mud. “Ye wouldn’t sthrike a man 
whin he’s down; thin why don’t ye show the same 
dacency to a dumb brute ! Unhitch the chains there ; 
don’t you see the ould horse is chokin’ ? ” 


“Little do I care if. he dies,” said Tom, as he 
ungraciously assisted in extricating him. “ Here it is 
coinin’ night, an’ this load stuck here in the middle of 
the road all on account of that old brute.” 

“It’s the fault o’ yer feyther, it is; for if he’d be 
doin’ the right thing by old Dobbin he’d give ’im the 
run o’ the pasture for the rist of his days widout a bit 
of the work to do. It’s goin’ on twinty years since he 
was broke to the harness, an’ that’s afore you was 
horned,” said Mike. 

“ Come, old fellow, get up and he assisted the old 
horse to his feet. 

“Hello, there, what’s up?” shouted the driver of a 
team that had come up behind. 

“ Sure, an’ it’s stuck in the mud we are,” said Mike. 
“An’ it’s glad we are to see ye, Mr. Tracy, if ye’ll 
give us a pull at the ind o’ the tongue wid thim beau¬ 
tiful horses o’ yourn.” 

“ Ah, it’s Shane’s team !” said Mr. Tracy, “and old 
Dobbin has been down. Shane never will learn when 
a horse is used up. He’s had twenty years good ser¬ 
vice out of that horse and isn’t satisfied yet. That’s a 
good load for four horses over such roads as these.” 

“That’s tlirue,” said Mike, “ but Shane niver sinds 
four horses to do the ivork he can get out of two.” 

Mr. Tracy’s team was soon hitched to the end of the 
tongue, and the four horses easily pulled the wagon out 
of the mud. 

“The old horse is winded,” said Mr. Tracy, “ and 
can never pull that load home. It’s a shame to treat 


a faithful old horse in that manner. You had better 
pull out to the side of the road, and come back in the 
morning with a better team.” 

Mr. Tracy’s advice was taken, as it was evident that 
old Dobbin was about used up. 

About twenty-five years previous to this time John 
Shane had moved to Indiana, and had bought a small 
farm, on which he built a saw mill; and by running 
the mill in winter and farming in summer he had added 
to his possessions until he was now the owner of two 
hundred acres of fine farm land. He had been a hard¬ 
working man, and was now considered a well-equipped 
and prosperous farmer. He was a hard man to deal 
with, and always aimed to make a dollar where other 
people made a dime. 

It was a favorite maxim of his that nothing should 
stay on the farm that did not more than pay expenses. 

There was not a beast or fowl on the farm but what 
his careful eye was on it, and everything must bring in 
money or its fate was sealed. 

Avarice held full sway over his mind, and there was 
no room in his nature for kindness. Everything on 
the place felt the effects of his ill-temper — even his 
family did not always escape. His son Tom had, to 
a great degree, absorbed his father’s sentiments, al¬ 
though a good boy at heart. A boy’s character is 
often ruined by his early training, and Tom was guilty 
of many acts, of cruelty to dumb animals which he 
did not know were wrong, simply because his father 
had set him that kind of example. He did not know 

6 


tnat he was violating any rule of humanity by such 
acts, because his thoughts had not been directed in that 
channel. 

Altogether the animals on Shane’s farm had a pretty 
hard time of it. There were two redeeming characters' 
on the farm, however, and they were Mrs. Shane and 
her daughter Edith. Invariably kind and gentle in 
their ways, they were loved by everything on the farm, 
and their righteous indignation would sometimes get 
the better of their judgment, and they would speak 
their minds about the cruelties practised by father and 
son. They would usually meet with the reply that 
“Women had better keep still about things that don’t 
consarn ’em.” And John Shane said, “Nothin’ made 
him madder than for a woman to interfere when he was 
dealin’ with his animals.” 

Tom, having arrived at home, and put the horses in 
the stable, came into the house, just as the family 
were sitting down to the supper table. 

“You are late to-night, Tom,” said Shane. “Has 
anything gone wrong?” 

“Yes, everything’s gone wrong,” answered Tom, in 
a surly mood; “and if I can’t have a better team to 
work with I won’t do any more teamin’.” 

“Come, sir,” said his father, “none of that kind 
of talk—-I won’t have it. What’s the matter with 
the team?” 

“ Why, enough’s the matter,” said Tom. “We got 
stuck in the mud down by Ford’s, an’ old Dobbin 
choked down an’ would’nt pull a pound; ” and Tom 


proceeded to tell the whole affair as it occurred, not 
omitting' Mr. Tracy’s remarks. 

“I think Tracy had better mind his own business 
and leave mine alone,” said Shane, a little piqued. 

“Well, if he had, your wagon would be standing 
down there in a mud hole yet,” said Tom. 

“That ain’t what I mean,” said Shane. “That’s 
no more than I’d do for a neighbor; but 1 know' a 
good horse as well as Tracy does; an’ my horses don’t 
take no back seat for his neither.” 

“He don’t drive any wind-broken nor worn-out 
horses,” retorted Tom. 

“ No more w'ould 1 if it wasn't for your mother, w r bo 
makes me keep old Dobbin.” 

“Well, John,” said Mrs. Shane, mildly, “you don't 
need to icorTe old Dobbin if you do keep him. I am 
sure, as Mr. Tracy says, he has earned a rest for the 
balance of his life.” 

“You know my principles, Mary, that nothin’ shall 
stay on this farm that don’t pay expenses.” 

“ I brought Dobbin here when I married you , John , 
and here he is going to stay as long as he lives.” 

Something in the tone of her voice touched a chord 
in John Shane’s heart that caused his memory to turn 
back to the time w r hen he married Mary. He w'as 
kind-hearted and happy then — but oh, those times 
were different. A man coulcl’nt afford to be generous 
now 7 or the world w'ould get the best of him. But 
why ? 

“An’ I say, father,” said Tom, breaking in, “if 

8 


mother insists on keeping Dobbin, let’s turn him out to 
pasture. It won’t cost much to keep him, an’ I won’t 
drive a broken-down horse for people to make remarks 
about.” 

“Especially Cora Tracy’s father,” said Edith. 

“No, not ‘especially’ anybody,” said Tom, bri¬ 
dling up, but blushing at the same time. 

“Well, we’ll see about it,” said Shane. “I don't 
want to hear any more about it to-night.” 

Thus he put the matter off, hoping that the event 
would be forgotten by morning, and that nothing more 
would be said about it. 


9 


CHAPTER II. 


IIE events just told took place in the early 
spring, just at the time when the spring 
work was commencing on the farm. The 
trees were beginning to put forth their 
leaves, and the meadows and fields were green with the 
growing grass. The violet's along the fence rows were 
turning up their little faces to the warm sun, and every 
bird familiar to the climate had made its appearance. 
Their joyous songs rang through the woods as they 
flitted hither and thither, building their nests, or turn¬ 
ing over the leaves looking for bugs and worms. 
There was no ill-temper displayed by these dwellers of 
the forest as they went about their work, seeking a 
living, or building their nests for the summer. Why 
should not the human family go about their work just 
as joyously as the birds of the forest? 

“Whistle and hoe, sing as you go, 

Shorten the row by the songs you know 0 ,! 

No such an idea as this had ever entered John 
Shane’s head, for with him everything w r as bustle and 
hurry. 

The day broke bright and clear on the morning after 
Dobbin’s misfortune, and the Shane household was up 



10 






with the sun to begin their daily duties. The convex*, 
sation of the previous evening had been forgotten by 
Shane — or at least thrust into the background by more 
important matters; and as he hurried to the barn to 
look after the feeding, his only thought was how to get 
the most work done that day. He walked down the 
row of stalls, throwing corn into the feed boxes, until 
he came to Dobbin’s stall, when he stopped as though 
thunderstruck. Old Dobbin was standing with his 
head down, wheezing like a man with the asthma. 

“Hello; here’s a fine go, right in the busy seasou. 
Just my everlastin’ bad luck ! ” he exclaimed, for the 
appearance of Dobbin indicated a severe case of lung 
fever. 

Shane never gave any thought to the comfort of his 
animals, and Tom followed in the footsteps of his 
father. He had brought Dobbin home wet with sw r eat, 
and tied him in. his stall without rubbing him down, 
and such a thing as a blanket was never heard of in 
Shane’s stables. Tom’s ill temper had made him even 
forget to put in the usual bedding of clean straw, and 
the result was, as any good horseman might expect, 
that Dobbin had taken a severe cokb 

“ How now, Tom,” cried Shane, as Tom entered the 
barn, “here’s a nice mess you’ve made of things.” 

Tom stood w r ith his hands in his pockets, staring at 
Dobbin; and while his conscience compelled him to 
feel a little sympathy for the old horse’s sufferings, yet 
he had the secret satisfaction of knowing that he would 
not have to drive him any more for a few days, any¬ 
how. 


11 


“You go clown to town an’ bring up Hodges, an* 
see what he can do for him,” said Shane. 

Had he known what would be the result of this 
action, he would rather have said, “You take him 
down to the woods an’ put a bullet in his brain.” But 
he thought Hodges could doctor the old horse up so 
that he would be able to work again. 

Shane got Dobbin out of the stable in the meantime 
although he was so stiff he could scarcely walk. 

Hodges, the veterinary surgeon, soon came and said 
he thought he could cure him, but that he didn’t 
believe he would ever be worth much, or able to do 
much hard work again. 

“Well, I’ll spend no money on him,” said Shane. 
“Here’s your fee for this time, and you needn’t come 
any more.” 

“ Mr. Hodges ,” said a voice behind them, “ you can 
give old Dobbin all the attention he needs , and I tcill 
see that you are paid.” It was Mrs. Shane, who had 
come up just in time to hear Shane’s last remark. 

Shane growled out something about “squandering 
money,” and turning on his heel, went to the barn. 

Hodges left medicine with Mrs. Shane, and she and 
Edith got the old horse into the yard and wrapped him 
up in an old quilt. They bathed his limbs with the 
ointment left by Hodges, and Mrs. Shane held his 
mouth open while Edith poured in the medicine for him 
to swallow. 

Dobbin’s condition soon became known throughout 

© 

the barnyard, and also the cause of it. There is no 


12 


question but animals do have some means of communi¬ 
cating with each other. How it is done we do not 
know. All migratory birds and folds have a public 
meeting before starting on their journeys southward, 
and go in flocks . It is interesting to watch a public 
gathering of crows, and see the dignified manner in 
which they will carry on the meeting until there arises 
a difference of opinion on some point, and then there 
commences such a chattering and cawing, and rising to 
points of order, or for personal explanation, as was 
never heard outside of a session of congress. But in 
the end they always come to some kind of a decision — 
which congress does not always do. 

It is said that the eagles of southern Indiana have 
a place of meeting where they hold an annual gathering, 
and make an apportionment of the country, assigning 
to each pair a certain territory over which they may 
hunt; and this meeting of eagles has never been known 
to be guilty of making a gerrymander , thereby setting 
a good example to some of our legislatures. It is not 
necessary for me to enumerate the many acts of 
sagacity of our domestic animals to show that they 
have some means of communicating ideas from one to 
the other. 

Old Dobbin was a favorite with everything on the 
farm, and the news of his misfortune spread in a short 
time, and was a matter of general discussion by all the 
animals. Even the chickens missed him, for he never 
objected to their eating a few grains of corn out of his 
box; but if they got in his way he would push them 

gently aside with his nose- 

13 


Even John Shane missed him, but it was the result 
of a selfish interest; for here was his team broken up, 
and not a horse on the place to take his place. There 
was no use of talking about breaking one of the colts; 
and Bay Dick had such a temper that he couldn’t be 
worked with any horse hut Dobbin. If he should 
hitch one of the colts up with Dick, everything would 
be kicked to splinters in five minutes. 

He went among his neighbors and tried to hire or 
buy a horse, but it was the busy season, and none of 
them cared to part with any of their horses. In this 
way he spent the whole day and succeeded in doing 
nothing but get into a very bad temper. 

He went down to the field where Mike was plowing 
with the only team on the farm, and told him not to 
spare the horses, but “ put ’em through from daylight 
till dark.” 

“ Not if I know mesilf ,” said Mike to himself, as 
Shane started away. “It’s not such a fool I am to 
overtax me own stringth for the sake of getting a 
little more work out of the horses.” 

Shane searched far and wide for a horse, but could 
find none at that season of the year. His temper grew 
worse all the time. Tom didn’t escape his wrath either; 
but Tom had a way of getting even by taking out his 
spite on the cattle and horses, and even the dog and 
cat did not entirely escape his kicks and blows. 
And his leisure time was spent going about the fields 
shooting birds, as he said “for practise.” 

Things went on this way for a week or ten days, 


14 


when Shane concluded to try breaking one of the colts. 
His idea of breaking a colt teas by force , and the 
thought never entered his head that he could subdue it 
by gentleness. The strong-limbed, beautiful colt was 
enticed into the stable, and the door securely fastened. 
A rope witn a slip-noose was then thrown over its 
head, and as it plunged away the rope tightened 
around its neck until it was choked almost into insen¬ 
sibility. A strong bridle was then placed on it and 
the noose was loosened. After being pulled around and 
whipped for about an hour the colt became too much 
exhausted to make furtner resistance, and Shane held 
it by the bit while Tom fitted on the collar and harness. 
Bay Dick was then brought out and hitched to the 
wagon, and the colt was placed alongside of him. 
Dick resented the idea of being hitched with a colt, and 
evinced some restlessness. 44 Gettin’ frisky, are you?” 
said Shane, and he gave Dick a cut with the whip 
which raised a long welt on his side. 

Dick laid back his ears, as much as to say, 44 I’ll get 
even with you for that.” 

41 All ready ; let go ! ” shouted Shane, and Tom re¬ 
leased the colt’s head, which he had been holding by 
the bit. It began to rear and plunge about in its 
efforts to get loose. Dick caught the excitement of 
the moment, and began plunging and kicking with all 
his might. The team then started to run, dragging 
Shane a short distance, when he let go,— and they 
sped down the lane like a hurricane. The wagon was 
torn to pieces, and the two norses, trying to jump a 


15 


fence, went clown together, and were tangled up in the 
harness. Shane and Tom hastened to the place and 
extricated them. Dick was all right, but the colt’s 
leg teas broken. 

“ Go to the house and get the rifle,” said Shane. 

Tom went; and when he came back Shane put a 
bullet in the colt’s head, saying, “ It’s no use to fool 
with a colt with a broken leg.” 

Such are the sentiments of many whose hearts are 
closed against the silent appeals of our dumb animals. 

How often have we seen the look of pain in a horse’s 
eye after receiving cruel blows for failing to do what 
was impossible— a look which almost seemed to say , 
“God forgive them , for they know not what they do l 


36 



CHAPTER IHe 


NDER the kind treatment of Mrs. Shane 
Dobbin had improved rapidly, and was able 
to be turned out in the pasture ; but he was 
still stiff in the joints and short in his wind. 
Shane had succeeded in getting a man from the village 
to come with his team and work a few days, but he 
was far behind his neighbors in getting his corn planted. 
This soured his temper more than anything else, for he 
was always ahead of his neighbors in his work, and he 
blamed it all to “ his everlastin’ bad luck.’'* 

From this time on he hardly gave his horses time to 
eat and sleep, and they were worked down almost to 
skin and bone. Dick’s temper had not improved any, 
and he bore the marks of the whip frequently; for 
Shane said the only way to control a horse was to make 
him fear you. 

About this time it became known about the farm 
that Dobbin had called a meeting of all the animals on 
the farm to take some measures for the amelioration of 
their condition. This meeting was to be held on the 
next Sunday, as that was the only day when the horses 
could get off. 

Now, the animals did not know exactly what was to 
be done at the meeting; but they had great confidence 



17 




in Dobbin, and attended the meeting in full force. It 
was held under the old oak tree down in the pasture 
beside the brook. The gathering was rather a surprise 
to Dobbiu, for he had not expected so many. He had 
given notice that all the useful auimals and fowls of 
the farm should be present, and as the result all the 
horses, cattle, sheep and swine were there, and all the 
chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese had sent representa¬ 
tives. Towser, the dog, and puss, the cat, were there 
in person. All the birds of the forest had sent repre¬ 
sentatives, and there were also representatives from 
the snakes and toads. 

It was with some apprehension that Dobbin took 
charge of this great gathering, as it was the first time 
he had ever attempted to preside over a public meeting, 
and he would have found himself afflicted with a trem¬ 
bling of the knees if his knees had not been too stiff 
to tremble. More than that, he was doubtful if all the 
representatives present were entitled to seats in the 
convention; but he concluded to take the matter in his 
own hands without appointing a committee on creden¬ 
tials—probably owing to the fact that he never heard of 
such a committee. He concluded to take the most 
difficult problem under consideration first, and called 
on the snakes and toads to state their claims to sit iD 
the convention. 

“We are not animals,” said one of the toads, 
“ neither are we fowk *, but we do claim to be useful. 
We destroy many noxious insects that would injure the 
crops grown on the farm. In fact, we live entirely on 

18 


insects — such as flies, roaches, mosquitoes, worms, and 
bugs, that would destroy agricultural crops. And we 
have been treated ” — 

“ Never mind how you have been treated,” said Dob¬ 
bin, “we will hear that further on. I believe your 
statements to be true, and will allow you to remain in 
the convention.” 

“And we,” said one of the snakes, “live on insects 
the same as the toad, and assist in protecting the crops 
from these pests.” 

“Yes,” said the toad, “you sometimes make a meal 
on one of my species.” 

“I admit that such things have been done, but 1 
have never been guilty of such a crime,” said the 
snake. 

“ Is not your bite poisonous, and are you not a dan¬ 
gerous fellow to have about?” inquired Dobbin. 

“An entirely mistaken idea,” said the snake ; “there 
is but one poisonous snake in the State , ancl that is the 
rattle-snake . We do not associate with them at all. 
Although our teeth are sharp, we have no poison fangs, 
and our bite is no more dangerous than the prick of a 
needle. For the proof of this I refer you to any 
scientific investigator of the age.” 

“Well, we will accept your statements as true, and 
allow you to remain in the convention,” said Dobbin. 

“Bravo ! ” shouted some one in the rear, and Dobbin 
looked around and saw a long-eared mule. 

"Hello! by what right are you here?” inquired 
Dobbin. 


19 


“By the right of my ability to get here,” said the 
mule. “ I am at present a free and independent char¬ 
acter in this community, and seeing you assembled 
here I thought I would come over and see what the 
caucus was about.” 

“May I ask where you belong?” inquired Dobbin. 

“I was formerly employed by a street car company 
of Indianapolis. I received too many kicks and blows 
and too much hard work for the amount of food I got, 
so I escaped from the stables and came out in the 
country for a vacation,” said the mule. 

“ Well,” said Dobbin, “if you stay here you will not 
be likely to find your condition any better.” 

“Never mind about me,” said the mule. “It’s just 
as easy to jump out of the field as it was to jump in; 
and if farmer Shane tries to capture me, he’ll find I’m 
something of a kicker.” 

“That maybe,” said Dobbin, “but you will find 
that farmer Shane is something of a kicker too, as all 
the animals on the farm can testify.” 

“We will now proceed with the business of the meet¬ 
ing,” said Dobbin, “and will call on all the assembled 
company to state their grievances and make suggestions 
for the remedy.” 

The cow was called upon. 

‘ 4 My troubles are not as serious as those of some 
others on the farm; but I don’t think I have been 
treated fairly,” said the cow. “ I give all the milk for 
the family, and don’t begrudge them any of it, yet 
when they took my calf from me I couldn’t help but 


20 


worry about it, and once I jumped the fence to get to 
it. Then Tom came with a club and beat me, and set 
Towser on me. I don’t think that Towser is a bit bet¬ 
ter than Tom.” 

“Mr. Chairman, I want to say a word here,” said 
Towser, coming forward. “ I admit that I have 
chased all the cattle, horses and hogs on the farm; but 
I have to do what my master commands me to do, for 
if I don’t I will get kicks and blows. I haven’t 
inflicted any serious injury on any of you, for my bark 
has always been worse than my bite.” 

“We must not always judge .each other by our 
actions,” said Dobbin, “ for we are sometimes com¬ 
pelled to do things that we would not do if left to our 
own free wills.” 

“More than that,” continued the cow, “that good- 
for-nothing Tom beats me and kicks me when he comes 
to milk me. He puts my neck iu a stall where I can’t 
turn my head around, and if I switch my tail to keep 
the flies off he gets mad and beats me. Why, last night 
he tied my tail to my leg so that I could not switch the 
flies, and a fly got on my back and bit me terribly. I 
couldn’t switch it off with my tail, nor scare it off with 
my head. I stood it as long as I could, and theu I 
kicked up with both of my feet. I ouly aimed to scare 
the fly away, but some way I kicked Tom over and 
spilled the bucket of milk all over him, and I’m carry¬ 
ing the bruises on me where he beat me for it. I don’t 
give down my milk very well sometimes, but what en¬ 
couragement is there for a, cow that is treated in that 
manner ? ” 


21 


When the cow had finished, Bay Dick was called on. 

“I don’t intend to stand this treatment any longer,” 
said Dick. “A horse don’t get anything but blows on 
this farm, whether he does right or wrong. I know I’ve 
got a fiery temper, and always aim to take my own 
part. I’m sorry I ran away the other day and broke 
the colt’s leg, but that’s done and can’t be helped. But 
one thing is certain, I don’t intend to submit to this 
treatment any longer.” 

The other horses all said “bravo,” and “that’s 
right.” 

“ I’d be willing to do my share of the work if I was 
treated right,” he continued ; “ but I get nothing but 
kicks and cuffs, and never a kind word. And there’s 
that Tom has been driving me every Sunday night 
down to Tracy’s place. He ties me to a strong post 
out in the road, with my head pulled away back ivith 
the check-rein , so that I can’t get my head down to 
rest it. Then he goes into the house and stays until 
ten or eleven o’clock , while I stand there and shiver 
ivith the cold. If he would just put a blanket over me 
I wouldn’t suffer so much ; but it’s little he ever thinks 
of our comfort. I tried to break loose and come home, 
but I couldn’t. You all know what old Dobbin has 
suffered at their hands, and that’s what we’ll all come 
to in the end.” 

This speech was indorsed by them all. 

“ I don’t know that I have any grievance to speak 
of,” said a pig. “I have a pretty good time. It’s 
true I sometimes get through a hole in the fence, and 
then Towser — 


22 


‘‘There it goes again,” said Towser. “Always 
blaming me for something I can’t help.” 

“As I said,” continued the pig, “I haven’t much 
to complain of, but if I can do anything to help the 
rest of you I will do it.” 

“There’s a hole in the garden fence where my chick¬ 
ens would get in last summer, and then I would have to 
go in and watch them,” said a hen. Then some of the 
other hens would get in, and Tom would come and 
throw stones at us. He killed two of my chickens and 
broke my wing. Sometimes he would set Towser on 
us — ” 

“There now, I won’t stand it any longer,” said 
Towser, bristling up. 

“Order, order!” shouted Dobbin; and Towser lay 
down again. 

“I’m kicked and cuffed day in and day out,” mewed 
Puss. “ I try to catch all the rats and mice I can, but 

7 

it don’t do any good.” 

“Am I allowed to speak?” asked a quail wdiich had 
hopped up on the fence. 

“What reason can you give for appearing in this 
meeting,” asked Dobbin. 

“For the reason that I live on insects, and bugs, 
and worms, which would be destructive to the farmer’s 
crops. I speak for all classes of birds. It is true that 
we eat a little fruit and grain, but that is nothing in 
comparison to the great benefits the farmer receives 
from us. We have added greatly to the prosperity of 
the farm, yet our nests are destroyed, ouryoung killed. 






and the merciless guns of both Shane and his son are 
popping away at us all the time.” 

“That being the case, all birds that destroy trouble¬ 
some insects are admitted to the convention,” said 
Dobbin. 

There being no more speakers, Dobbin said the con¬ 
vention would take a recess for five minutes, and go 
down to the brook and get a drink, after which they 
would discuss the matter as to the best and most con¬ 
venient remedy for the evils existing on the farm. 


24 


CHAPTER IV. 


HE meeting having re-assembled, Dobbin 
called for suggestions as to the proper 
remedy for their misfortunes, and the 
proper course to pursue. All were silent 
but Bay Dick, wno was in favor of kicking everything 
to pieces on the farm, and to show how it was to be 
done he wheeled around and kicked the top rail off the 
fence. 

“If you will allow me to make a suggestion,” said 
the mule, “perhaps I could give you some ideas on this 
subject.” 

“We will hear what you have to say,” said Dobbin. 

“I have been in the service of the street car com- 
pany for several years,” sai'd the mule, “and I know 
when the street car drivers got dissatisfied with their 
wages they went on a strike; That is, they quit work 
until their difficulties were fixed up in some way, and 
they got what they wanted. I know we mules had an 
easy time of it while the strike lasted. Now, why 
couldn’t you all go out on a strike and refuse to work 
until you get better treatment?” 

“That would probably result in more blows and 
worse treatment instead of better,” said Dobbin. 



25 




“No,” said the mule, “if farmer Shane had to £o 
without you for a while he would perhaps begin to 
appreciate your services, and would come to his senses 
and treat you better.” 

After some further discussion this plan grew in 
favor and was adopted, and the mule which had been 
in the street car strike gave them full instructions how 
to proceed. 

“I’ll not do another day’s work,” said Dick, “and 
I’ll kick everything to pieces they hitch me to.” 

“Hold on there,” said the mule, “no violence to 
persons or property. That was the rule in the street 
car strike. Just quit work and let farmer Shane get 
along the best he can.” 

“That’s right,” said Dobbin, “no violence in this 
strike.” 

“Well, I’ll do the best I can to keep cool,” said 
Dick, “but they mustn’t push me too far.” 

“Now, we will hear from each member as to the 
course they intend to pursue,” said Dobbin. 

“As for my part,” said Dick, who was highly 
delighted with the plan, “I shall pretend to be very 
lame, and stiff in my shoulders.” 

“Considering your high temper,” said the mule, 
“perhaps it would be better for you to locate your 
lameness in your hind legs.” 

“Not much,” said Dick, “I may have occasion to 
use my heels before I get through this if they use me 
too severely.” 

“ I shall stay in the farthest corner of the pasture, 


26 


and make Tom come after me every night instead of 
going up to the barn to be milked, as I have always 
done,” said the cow, “and I shall give just as little 
milk as possible.” 

The other horses all agreed to feign some kind of 
sickness to avoid work. 

“I will not do anything that I can get out of,” said 
Towser, “if I have to chase any of you, you needn’t 
get scared, for I’ll not hurt you. There is one thing 
that I have always done, and that is, kill the moles in 
the yard and garden. They burrow under the ground, 
where puss can’t get at them, and I have always made 
it a point to watch for them and kill them. I will not 
kill another mole if they destroy all the garden.” 

“I will not kill another rat or mouse on the farm, if 
they eat up all the grain,” said Puss. 

“Thank you for that,” said a big rat, that came up 
out of a fence corner, where he had been hiding and 
listening. 

“I want you to understand that it is not out of any 
consideration or respect I have for you that I made 
that statement,” said Puss, and she walked over 
towards the rat, who immediately dropped back into 
his hole. 

“Quite right and proper,” said Dobbin ; “ we want 
no such characters in this convention.” 

The snake and toad said they would move over to 
the next farm. 

“ I shall move off the farm just as soon as my mate 
gets well of a wound received the other day from a 


27 


shot from Shane’s gun/" said the quail, “ and I prom¬ 
ise you that no quail shall come on this farm this 
summer.” 

“I have a grievance against farmer Shane myself,” 
said a hawk, that had perched unseen on the top of the 
oak, “ and I will agree to kill all the chickens on the 
farm.” 

“Put him out! put him out!” screamed the hen; 
and the other birds quickly sought cover. 

“I’ll fix him,” said the kingbird, and he made a 
quick dash at the hawk, and struck him in the back 
with his sharp beak. 

“ I’ll help,” said the crow; and between them they 
soon drove the hawk away. 

“ I spend almost the whole of my time catching 
worms and bugs,” chirped the robin. “It is true, 
that is the way I make my living, but those worms 
would destroy many dollars’ worth of crops. Last 
summer almost my whole family was killed by Shane 
because we took a few cherries, and I promise you 
there shall not a robin remain on the farm nor catch a 
worm on it this summer.” 

So said all the birds; and it was then and there 
arranged that there should be a general emigration of 
birds from the Shane farm. 

“ Am I in this?” asked the crow, who had returned 
from driving the hawk away, which he had chased 
clear over to the adjoining farm. 

u Well, that’s questionable, ’ ’ said Dobbin. But owing 
to the fact that the crow had chased away the hawk, 

28 


Dobbin was disposed to look more kindly on him than 
he otherwise would. 

“Ah! you black rogue,” said the hen, “you stole 
an egg out of iry nest yesterday. I saw you fly away 
with it.” 

“ 1 admit it,” said the crow; “ but I drove away a 
lat that was just about to steal it, and I thought I 
might take the egg as a reward for driving the rat 
away. Besides, I drive away hawks which would steal 
chickens, and I kill a great many grubworms, and cut¬ 
worms, and ground mice,” continued the crow, “ and 
if I’m a part of this strike I’ll not kill any more such 
pests, and more than that, I’ll move off the farm and 
let the hawks kill all Shane’s chickens.” 

“Oh! come now,” said the lien, “let’s compro¬ 
mise ; you stay here and keep the hawks away, and 
I’ll give you an egg now and then.” 

“ All right,” said the crow ; “ I’ll agree to anything 
to get into good society.” 

“I have a few words to say,” said the blackbird; 
“ I’m black like the crow, but I don’t steal eggs.” 

“ Yes; but I saw you pulling up corn down in the 
field yesterday, which is just as bad,” said Dobbin. 

“ Quite mistaken, I assure you,” said the blackbird. 
Sometimes I pull up a sprout of corn, but it is to get 
at the grubworm which is at the root. If I did not 
pull it up the grub would destroy it anyhow, so in the 
end no harm is done by me, but much good, for I 
destroy a worm that would have destroyed many stalks 
of corn before the season is over. We cannot destroy 


29 


all the grubworms and cutworms that are in the corn- 
fields, for they are under ground and we cannot get at 
them. We follow the plow in the spring and get all 
the worms that it turns up. We follow in the summer 
and get all the worms that the cultivator brings to the 
surface. Thousands of crickets and grasshoppers are 
destroyed by us which would injure the wheat and grass 
crops. Hundreds of my species have been killed by 
Shane, and I will promise you that not a worm nor an 
insect shall be killed by a blackbird on the farm this 
summer. More than that, all the blackbirds in this 
section will joiii me, and each one will carry a few 
grubworms and cutworms and drop them on Shane’s 
fields.” 

Dobbin thought that carrying worms on the farm for 
the purpose of destroying the crops was contrary to 
the arrangement that no violence should be done to the 
person or property of Shane; but the birds all insisted 
that it was no more than right that they should have 
this privilege. They thought that was the best way to 
prove to Shane the great amount of damage done by 
these pests. 

Everything being now arranged, the convention 
adjourned to meet again on the following Sunday at 
the same place, and report what had been done. 

u Wonder ichat all them beasts are gathered around 
that tree for?” said Shane, as he and Tom sauntered 
across the field, laying their plans for the next day’s 
work. “ Must be somethin’ wrong.” 

“They’re just standin’ in the shade of that tree, I 


30 ' 


guess,” answered Tom; “ but it does seem kind of 
strange, for there’s Towser among ’em, an’ he don’t 
often go very far away from the house.” 

“ Yes, an’ there’s some other critter there, too, that 
don’t belong to this farm,” said Shane. 

“ It’s a mule,” said Tom. “ I wonder where in the 
nation he came from?” 

Shane and Tom having come close enough for the 
animals to see them, the mule started across the field 
to the point where he had jumped + he fence. Towser, 
seeing the turn affairs had taken, started after the mule, 
as though chasing it, and made a bee-line for home as 
soon as he was out of sight of Shane. The other 
animals scattered in various directions, and Shane and 
Tom proceeded in the direction the mule had taken to 
see where it had gotten in. 


31 


CHAPTER Vo 


ONDAY morning came bright and fair, and 
Shane was up at dawn. He fed the horses, 
and seeing the sorrel horse lying down, he 
thought the horse was still sleeping, and 
threw a corncob at him. 

“Come, wake up there, lazy bones/* he shouted, 
but the only response was a groan. 

“ What in the nation is the matter now? ” he asked 
himself, as he went around in the stable and gave the 
horse a poke with the fork handle. 

“ Get up here,” he shouted, and gave the horse 
another poke with the fork handle. The sorrel got up 
on his feet, but stood with his head down. 

“He’d better not try that with me,” said Dick, to 
himself, in an undertone, as he munched his corn. 

“Looks like a sick horse, sure,” said Shane. “I 
never knew that horse to refuse to eat before. Fire 
and thunder! ” he exclaimed, as lie looked in the gray 
mare’s stall, and saw that she had not touched her corn. 
“ Somebody must have poisoned these horses.” 

He led the sorrel horse and gray mare out in the 
barn-yard, where they rolled around and made a great 
show of having the colic. 

“Tom, come here!” shouted Shane, as Tom came 



32 



sauntering down the path with his milk pail. “ You 
put the saddle on Dick, an’ go down an’ get Hodges 
as quick as you can.” 

Tom did as he was commanded ; but when he at¬ 
tempted to bring Dick out of the stable he pretended 
to be so stiff that he could not get out. Shane was 
called up and made acquainted with the state of affairs. 

“ What in the nation do you suppose is the matter 
with ’em?” he asked, still more astounded. “ ’Tain’t 
no founder, for they haven’t been overfed.” 

“I’ve an idea that it’s some of that mule’s work,” 
said Tom. “Like as not lie’s been kicked.” 

“ I reckon one mule wouldn’t kick all the horses on 
the place,” said Shane, as they examined him for hoof 
marks and found none. 

“Well, you’ll just have to walk down to town an’ get 
Hodges, an’ be quick about it.” 

“ It does beat all,” said Shane, as he returned to the 
house. “ There’s no misfortune flyin’ that don’t ’light 
on this farm.” 

“ What is the matter now?” asked Mrs. Shane. 

“Why, every horse on the farm is disabled in one 
Way or another,” said Shane. 

“ Well, I thought you were working those horses too 
hard,” said Mrs. Shane. “You should remember, 
John, that horses are not machines that can go on for¬ 
ever. You should judge their feelings something by 
your own. You raised Mike’s wages for working over 
time, but what have you ctiven these horses for their 
overwork f Have you given them any better care or 
better food ? ” 


33 


“Oh, you have foolish notions about such things, 
an’ you and me will never agree on them pints,” said 
Shane. 

“It is true, nevertheless, that if you would give 
your horses better care, and lighter work, you would 
be the gainer in the end,” said Mrs. Shane. 

“How can I help it,” said Shane ; “ L ire’s only three 
horses left on the farm, an’ I’ve got to get all the work 
I can out of ’em.” 

“ It was overwork that put Dobbin in the shape he is 
now in,” said Mrs. Shane. “If he had been properly 
cared for, and not been given work he couldn’t do, he 
would have worked all summer.” 

“Well, what’s done can’t be undone ; an’ I’ve got to 
get them horses on their feet again. Them foolish 
notions of yours won’t make any money on the farm ; 
so there’s no use discussin’ ’em.” 

Time will show,” was Mrs. Shane’s parting shot. 

Hodges soon arrived, and worked on the horses ah 
day, and at night they did not seem any better than 
when he began. He said they were the most peculiar 
and stubborn cases he had ever seen. Dick had sev¬ 
eral quiet laughs at the expense of the other horses 
because they had to take nasty medicine, while his 
treatment was external. Hodges said he couldn’t see 
what was the matter with the horses, unless their con¬ 
stitutions were entirely broken down by overwork. He 
left in the evening with instructions that if the horses 
were not better by morning to let him know. 

“Did you see that big flock of blackbirds down in 


34 


the lower field,” inquired Shane of Tom at the supper 
table that evening. 

“Yes,” said Tom; “there must have been hundreds 
of ’em.” 

« 

“You must get out early with the shot-gun in the 
mornin,’ or there won’t be a grain of corn left in the 
ground.”, 

“ Mr. Tracy says that blackbirds do more good than 
harm,” said Edith. “He says that all birds destroy 
bugs and worms.” 

“ Tracy has got lots of fool notions in his head that 
there ain’t any money in,” said Shane. 

“Well, I think it’s cruel to shoot birds that don’t 
know they are doing any harm. I’m sure you wouldn’t 
want to be shot for doing something that you didn’t know 
was wrong,” replied Edith. 

The further discussion of the matter was postponed 
by Shane, w r ho said he had more serious things to think 
about. 

“Mornin’ to ye, Tom,” said Mike, as he met Tom 
in the lane, gun in hand, bent on destroying blackbirds. 

“What be ye goin’ to shoot this mornin’?” 

“Blackbirds,” replied Tom. 

“Begorra, there’s plinty of ’em,” said Mike. 

“ It looks like I would get a chance to use my gun,” 
said Tom. 

“ Thim’s quare birds, now, Tom. I was watchin* 
’em yisterday an’ begorra, do ye know, I think they're 
plantin’ corn instid o’ takin’ it np; for I see ’em 
droppin’ somethin’ white all over toe field, and there be 

35 


hundreds of ’em at it. But how is thim horses this 
mornin’ ? ” 

“No better ; an’ the old man is as mad as a hornet,” 
said Tom, as he passed on down the lane in search of 
blackbirds. There was abundance of them, and Tom 
thought he would have line sport killing them, but they 
were on the alert, and not a bird did he succeed in kill¬ 
ing, although he tramped around the fields until he was 
tired out. 

“Tom, you surely didn’t milk that cow dry,” said 
Mrs. Shane ; “you didn’t get half as much milk as you 
usually do.” 

“She wouldn’t give down her milk,” said Tom. 
“The old brute needed a good beating—and she got it, 
too.” 

“ You must not ill-treat that cow,” said Mrs. Shane. 
“ Nothing will ruin a good cow as soon as cruel treat¬ 
ment. If you won’t treat the cow right I will have to 
do the milking myself.” 

“It ain’t my fault that she is so mean,” said Tom, 
as he walked out in the yard, and discovering a bird’s 
nest in the cedar tree, picked up a long pole and began 
to punch at it, when Edith came out and saw him. 

“Tom Shane, what are you doing ? ” she cried ; “ you 
leave that bird’s nest alone.” 

“I won’t,” he said. “ It’s a nasty old robin’s nest, 
and I don’t want ’em here.” 

“They don’t hurt anything, and do lots of good, 
and sing so nice.” 

“They steal cherries, and don’t do any good,” said 
Tom ; “an’ who cares for their singin’?” 

36 


“I do, and Cora Tracy does, and so does mamma. 
Cora and I watched them building that nest day before 
yesterday. They didn’t come back to-day; and I 
believe you have done something to them. I’ll tell 
Cora if you tear it down,” she said, as Tom made 
another vigorous punch at the nest. 

“Don’t care if you do,” said Tom, as he gave an¬ 
other punch at the tree with his pole; but he was care¬ 
ful, however, not to strike the nest, and laid down his 
pole and walked away. Tom was just at the age when 
the influence of the gentler sex was most powerful 
over him, and he hesitated to do anything that might 
bring him into disfavor with Cora Tracy. 

“Oh ! mamma, do come here and see,” cried Edith, 
the next day, as she was walking around in the yard. 
“The moles have eaten up all the tulips.” 

Mrs. Shane came out to see the wreck of her beauti¬ 
ful tulip bed. 

“ Here, Towser ! come and hunt the moles,” called 
Mrs. Shane to Towser, who lay on the porch. He came 
down slowly and walked up to Mrs. Shane, and licked 
her hand. He then started down the path, barking as 
though he saw some one. 

“Here, Towser! come back now, and hunt the 
moles.” Towser came back, and Mrs. Shane pointed 
to the burrow and told him to hunt, but he hung his 
head and walked away. 

“Why, what ails the dog?” said Mrs. Shane, “I 
never saw him act so.” 

“Towser, you naughty dog,” cried Edith, “why 


37 


don't you mind?”—but Towser was gone. He remem¬ 
bered his promise, and kept it, but lie felt so mean that 
he went around in the back yard and growled at Tom, 
until he received a kick, and then he felt better. 

The next da}^ the pigs were in the garden, and Edith 
called Towser to run them out. He lay still with his 
nose between his paws, and apparently paid no atten¬ 
tion to her. 

“You naughty, lazy dog. You shall not have any 
supper for that, ’ ’ cried Edith, as she went after the 
pigs. 


38 


CHAPTER VI, 


N the following Sunday the beasts and birds 
of the Shane farm met at the appointed 
place under the oak tree. Some of them 
looked rather the worse for the past week’s 
experience ; but all had a determined air, and looked 
willing to add a little more to the usual amount of suf¬ 
fering, if it would assist them in bettering their condi¬ 
tion. 

Dobbin called the meeting to order and stated that 
they would now hear from each one as to their experi¬ 
ences of the past week. Owing to the fact that Mrs. 
Shane had insisted that Dobbin should not be worked 
any more, he was an independent character on the 
farm. He had not been expected to work, and, as a 
consequence, had not been ill treated. 

Bay Dick pranced forward, and said he was not so 
lame as he had been. “However, I am liable to be 
lame in good earnest if they give me much more of the 
treatment that I have received for the past week. I 
tell you it is hard to keep my heels down and not kick 
things to pieces. I haven’t kicked any this week, 
though I don’t promise for the future, for I have put up 
with about all the abuse I can stand without striking 
back,” 



39 




“Keep cool,” said Dobbin; “let us all work to> 
getlier and be patient.” 

“Patience is a virtue I don’t boast olsaid Dick ; 
“but I will do the best I can.” 

The sorrel said that playing sick was about as hard 
as working, for he had been going hungry all the week, 
a sick horse, of course, not being expected to eat. 
He could get along all right as long as they would turn 
him out in the pasture, where he could crop the grass 
without being seen ; but when they shut him up in the 
stable they could tell how much he ate. 

The gray mare had the same experience, but they 
both promised to hold out to the end, if it took all 
summer, and they got so thin that they had to stand 
twice in the same place to make a shadow. 

“I have had a pretty rough time of it,” said the 
cow. “The only way I could get even was by not 
giving milk, and the only way I could keep from giv¬ 
ing milk was not to eat. I have had to starve myself 
for the whole week, but 1 have the satisfaction of know¬ 
ing that they have not had enough milk in the family; 
and that good-for-nothing Tom has not had any milk 
to drink for one week. No doubt I am looking pretty 
thin, but I am determined not to give any milk if I can 
help it. I have received several beatings from Tom, 
because he says I won’t give down my milk, and I 
kicked him once.” 

“That is quite heroic on your part,” said Dobbin. 
14 Who is the hext ? ” 

“ Th^^' ”wer was a dog had as hard a time as X 

40 


do/’ said Towser. “I have tried not to do anything, 
but I get so many kicks and blows that I have to pre¬ 
tend to do something to keep them from beating me to 
death. By ‘them* I mean Mr. Shane and Tom, for 
Mrs. Shane and Edith are as kind as they can be. I 
haven’t killed a mole this week, and they ate up all of 
Mrs Shane’s flowers. I was awfully sorry about that 
for I haven’t anything against Mrs. Shane. And then 
when Edith told me to drive the hogs out of the garden 
I wouldn’t go, and she had to go and drive them out 
herself. 1 licked her hand afterwards and tried to 
make up with her, but she wouldn’t, and said I was a 
lazy dog. I’ll make it all up to her when this strike is 
over.” 

“I just had to lay an egg every day,” said the hen, 
“but I made a nest away back under the barn where 
they couldn’t find it, and then went up in the hay-mow 
and cackled. I know they haven’t found any eggs for 
they are all there, except what I gave the crow, and I 
think he earned them, for I haven’t seen a hawk for a 
week.” 

“The rats and mice are about to take the place, for 
I haven’t bothered them this week,” said puss. ‘ 4 When 
I get hungry for a mouse, I go over to the next farm 
to get it. Shane said I ought to be starved into catch- 
ing mice. Humph ! there are mice to catch in other 
places than here. I won’t starve.” 

“I have done my part,” said the crow. “The hen 
has been giving me eggs to eat, and 1 have spent my 
spare time in carrying worms and dropping them on the 

41 


fields, and I have had about a hundred of my friends 
at the same work. No wonder the hen has not seen a 
hawk this week, for no hawk will ever come around 
where a hundred crows are.” 

“You have no doubt seen the result of my work,” 
said the blackbird. “I have had some hundreds of 
my friends at work carrying worms and insects on to 
the farm and dropping them. There will be enough 
worms on the farm within the next week to eat up all 
the crops this summer.” 

“I don’t think that is right,” said Dobbin, “for 
Shane may change his mind before the season is over, 
and then we would be sorry for what we have done.” 

“Oh! don’t worry about that,” said the blackbird. 
“I have explained the matter to them, and they have 
all agreed to assist in carrying all the worms and insects 
off again, if events should take a favorable turn for us. 
We’ll make that all right.” 

“With that understanding, I consent that the work 
go on,” said Dobbin. 

“Tom has been chasing us all the week with his gun, 
but we keep out of his way. It’s open w ( ar between 
us from now on, and we’ll see which wins,” said the 
blackbird. 

The other birds said they had been engaged in simi¬ 
lar work, and that there was not now a single bird of 
any kind on the farm. 

While this meeting was going on, Shane had gone 
over to the Tracy farm to see if he could not get Mr. 
Tracy to help him out with his work. 


42 


“It seems like fate is agin me this year,” said 
Shane. “What little crops I have got in are about to 
be taken by the birds. It keeps Tom all the time to 
keep ’em out of the corn.” 

“You and I have different views about such things,” 
said Mr. Tracy. “ I consider the birds my best friends; 
I wouldn’t part with them for any money , and I don’t 
allow a bird shot on my farm.’* 

“I never could see it in that light,” said Shane. 
“I know they pull up the corn and there’s enough 
blackbirds on my farm to take all the corn I can 
plant.” 

“Why, there’s just as many on my farm and they 
follow the plow and pick up every worm and bug they 
can find. I’m satisfied that the work done for me this 
spring by blackbirds alone is worth fifty dollars to me, 
and they are not half done yet. I have a great deal 
more work for them to do for me before the season is 
' over. Why, the birds are one of God’s best gifts to us, 
and we ought to give Him thanks for sending them. 
They are not only a benefit to us in money, but their 
songs brighten our lives and make our homes more 
pleasant.” 

“I never have time to listen to their singin’,” said 
Shane, “and as for their usefulness, I think they 
injure us more than they do us good.” 

“Well, I hope you will see things in a different light 
some time, and be able to understand what a good gift 
they are to us.” 

“I never can see things like you do,” said Shane; 


43 


“ an’ it’s no use for us to argy for we can’t agree. 
When luck begins to run agin a man there’s no stoppin’ 
it. Now there’s all them horses of mine disabled, an’ 
I don’t know what to do.” 

“Now to be candid, friend Shane, don’t you think you 
are in a measure responsible for the condition of your 
horses? Now there’s old Dobbin would have been able 
to do light work all summer if he had not been over¬ 
worked, but he is not fit for any work now.” 

“Yes ; an’ I’d get rid of him if it wasn’t for Mary. 
I don’t believe in keeping useless animals just out of 
sympathy.” 

“Oh! come now; you don’t think God gave man 
dominion over the lower animals just that we might 
tyrannize over them, and abuse them? There is no 
record of any crime they ever committed against the 
laws of God, or any disobedience to His will that 
should lead Him to give man dominion over them as a 
means of punishment; but, on the contrary, it seems as 
though He has given them to us to be useful to us, 
and make our lives happier. There is a limit to our 
dominion, and that limit has been exceeded by you, in 
the case of old Dobbin, at least. You had long years 
of service from him, and he had grown too old for the 
work you put on him. The same reason would proba¬ 
bly hold good with the other horses, for I think you 
have overworked them this spring. I say it in all 
kindness to you ; but I think you have got into the 
habit of looking at things in the wrong light, and 
are measuring things by a false standard.” 


44 


“You may be right about the matter,” said Shane; 
“ but I don’t see how a man is to get along in the 
world if he don’t push things.” 

“ That depends on what you mean by pushing things, 
and getting along in the world. If the getting of 
money is the aim of life it might be to our interest to 
wring the last pound of strength from our beasts that 
could be got out of them, but I believe it is a good 
policy not only to get happiness for ourselves, but to 
make them happy too; and I don’t think I ever lost 
anything by that policy.” 

“Well, we can’t agree on these questions,” said 
Shane, “and what I want to know is if you will help 
me out a little with my work, when you get your crop 
in.” 

“Why, certainly, I am always willing to help a 
neighbor when he is in trouble. Let me see : the boys 
will have that lower field broke up by the middle of the 
week, and then I will send you one team on one con¬ 
dition, neighbor Shane.” 

“What is that?” asked Shane. 

“That you will apply my principles in regard to the 
lower animals to my horses. That you will treat them 
as kindly as I would treat them, and be as merciful to 
them as you would to me, if I went over to help you.” 

“I agree to that,” said Shane, “an’ appreciate 
your kindness, I am sure.” 

Shane took his departure and went on to Abner 
Smith’s, who lived on the next farm. Abner Smith 
was a bluff old fellow who always spoke his mind, and 


45 









was always free to criticise anything that did not suit 
him, but his criticisms always had a ring of sincerity, 
as being the result of honest conviction. Justice to 
all things, both man and beast, was the ruling princi¬ 
ple of his life. Shane’s errand here was the same as 
at Tracy’s, and he related his troubles and asked for the 
use of a team in getting his corn planted. 

“Well, I’m always neighborly,” said Smith, “an’ I 
think I can spare you a team by the middle of the week, 
an’ I’ll send my boy John along to drive it for you.” 

.“That is not necessary,” said Shane; “I have 
plenty of hands. What I want is horses; Tom can 
drive the team, if you will let me have it.” 

“I’d rather my boy John would go along with the 
team,” said Smith. “ It shan’t cost you nothin’. You 
see the team is used to John, an’ then they do say that 
you are a hard man on bosses, neighbor Shane, an’ 
mine ain’t used to bein’ ill treated.” 

“Well, suit yourself about that. By the way, I’ll 
send Tom over to work in John’s place, if you insist 
on sending John with the team.” 

“That’s fair,” said Smith. “If you don’t need the 
boy, just send him over an’ I’ll find work for him.” 

Farmer Shane returned home feeling more cheerful 
than he had for some days; but he didn’t feel right 
about the way Tracy and Smith had talked about his 
treatment of his horses and other animals. 

“The idea,” he soliloquized, “that I don’t know as 
much about how to use a horse as Abner Smith. Why, 
I’ve owned two horses to his one, an’ have wore out 


46 


more horses than he ever owned. I’d get more work 
out of the horses if he’d let Tom drive ’em, but then 
I’ll have to do the best I can. An’ then there’s Tracy’s 
horses ; I’ll use them myself, an’ may be John will get 
ashamed of himself if he don’t do as much as I do 
with Tracy’s team; but tnen I promised Tracy that I 
wouldn’t use his team hard, an’ if I did he would never 
forgive me. John would just be mean enough to go 
right away an’ tell Tracy if I did get a full day’s work 
out of ’em. Well, I’ll just have to do the best I can, 
but I do hate to have to work with people who have 
such cranky notions. It’s strange they can’t see that 
it pays better to work a horse for all there is in him, 
an’ when he’s wore out shoot him or give him away. 
I tell you time is worth more than horse flesh.” 

Such were the thoughts of a man who was intent on 
money getting. He forgot that the same God who 
created him created the lower animals, and that the 
dominion God gave him over them was a trust to be 
executed mercifully* 


47 


CHAPTER VII. 


HE clays went by, and Tracy and Smith sent 
their teams, and the work went merrily on 
at the Shane farm, and it looked like the 
corn would be planted in pretty good time 
yet. Shane’s horses were not improving in appearance 
any, and he had spent the price of a horse in fees to 
Hodges to treat them. He hoped to get them cured 
by the time the corn was ready for the cultivator, but 
the first thing was to get the corn planted. 

The work went steadily on, and by the middle of the 
next week the last hill was in the ground, and Shane 
was astonished at the amount of work that could be 
done b}^ two teams, when they' were worked according 
to Tracy’s and Smith’s plans; for he had kept his 
promise to Tracy to treat the team well. He had given 
them proper rest during the day, proper care at night, 
and had worked them a reasonable number of hours. 
He remarked that “ Smith an’ Tracy had two mighty 
good teams. They just go right along an’ do what 
they are told to do without any fuss or trouble.” Yet 
he could not understand that it was the kind treatment 
that these horses received that made them work so 
cheerfully. 

“There’s an awful sight o’ grubworms in this soil,” 



48 







said John Smith, as he and Shane were breaking up 
the ground for corn. “If them blackbirds that’s a 
bangin’ around in the woods would come down an’ pick 
’em up it would be many a dollar in your pocket.” 

“I ain’t got any use for. blackbirds,” said Shane. 
“The pesky things will be around when the corn’s 
planted to pull it up. I’d rather take my chances agin 
the worms than the birds. If I had a gun, I’d start 
them black rascals out of there.” 

“They’ll pick up a sight of worms if you’ll let’em,” 
said John. “ Father don’t allow us to kill birds. He 
says they more than pay their way.” 

“Maybe they do for some people, but they don’t 
for me,” said Shane. 

The birds were confining their work to the fields, and 
were not seen about the house. This was observed 
soonest by Edith, who was very fond of birds. 

“How strange it is, mamma, that there are no birds 
this summer,” said Edith. 

“ I have noticed it,” said Mrs. Shane. “PerhaDS 
they have not come yet.” 

“Oh ! yes they have,” said Edith, “there's j,, , 
of them over at Tracy’s, and lots of nests. I don't 
see why they don’t build any nests here. It seems so 
lonesome here without them. I think papa and 'ru u , 
ore cruel to shoot them and drive them aw r ay, and I 
told papa so.” 

“Don’t worry your papa anymore than you can 
help, Edie,” said Mrs. Shane. “He has had a great 
deal of trouble this spring.” 


49 


44 Well, mamma, don’t you think he has brought a 
great deal of this trouble on himself ? ” 

“Perhaps so, Edie ; but your papa has ideas about 
things that are different from ours. He looks at every¬ 
thing from a money point of view.” 

“I don’t think that people who look at things only 
from a money point cf view,” said Edith, “get much 
happiness.” 

“Your papa is doing what he thinks is for the best, 
and is looking ahead to save up something for you and 
Tom.” 

“Well, I don’t want him to make himself miserable 
all his life to save up money for me. I would rather 
he 'poor and he happy , and have people and animals 
and birds to love me. If papa would read the books I 
borrowed from Cora Tracy he would find out that birds 
are useful, and instead of trying to kill them and drive 
them away, he would be glad to have them come.” 

“Your papa has so many cares that he don’t have 
time to read,” said Mrs. Shane. 

Edith sat for some time in silence, gazing out over 
the fields, and up in the blue sky. 

“It seems to me like something dreadful is going to 
happen,” she said. “Everything seems so gloomy 
around here; it doesn’t seem like the same place.” 

4 4 The bad luck your papa has had this spring makes 
us all feel down-hearted. Perhaps it is all for the best, 
and we can only hope that it will come out all right.” 

44 1 don’t think it will come out all right,” said Edith. 
“I don’t think papa is doing right to drive away the 


50 


birds, and work the horses to death ; and Mr. Tracy 
thinks the same thing, for Cora told me so, and I’m 
going to have a talk with papa about it.” 

“It is quite useless to annoy him about it,” said 
Mrs. Shane. “His mind is made up, and he will not 
change it.” 

This reply did not settle the matter with Edith, for 
she w'as determined to talk with her father about the 
matter, but she did not expect the opportunity to come 
in the manner it did. 

The days slipped by and the corn w r as coming up, 
but the diliiculties on the Shane farm had not improved 
any. The horses w'ere still not lit for use, and Hodges 
could not tell w r hen they w'ould be. 

“I don’t believe there’s anything the matter with 
that bay Dick,” said Shane, “and I’m not going to 
fool with him any longer. He eats as hearty as ever, 
and I saw him dowm in the pasture trotting around as 
limber as any horse. I’m goin’ to hitch him up an’ 
make him work or break his neck. Here’s the corn 
cornin’ up an’ some of the horses have got to go in the 
field pretty soon.” 

Having come to this conclusion, he said he would 
hitch Dick up to the cart and drive him to towm, and 
see if he couldn’t limber him up under the w r hip. 

“Do be careful,” said Mrs. Shane, “you know that 
horse has a bad temper.” 

“Oh ! I guess Dick know r s me by this time, and he 
knows I won’t stand any nonsense. If he’s as lame as 
he pretends to be, it won’t be much trouble to handle 
him.” 


51 


Accordingly the harness was put on Dick, and he 
was hitched to the cart. He stumbled around like a 
very lame horse, and made a very bad show of getting 
along. No one but Shane would have undertaken to 
'drive him in the condition he appeared to be in. 

“Poor Dick,” said Edith, as Shane stopped at the 
house; “I don’t think papa ought to drive him when 
he is so lame,” and she patted his neck and smoothed 
out his long mane. “Don’t drive him hard, papa,” 
she continued, “and I’m sure he’ll do the best he 
can.” 

Shane made no reply, but drove away toward town. 
The drive to town and return was a slow one, for even 
Shane’s hard heart would not permit him to drive a 
lame horse out of a walk. Shane was rather proud 
of the fact that he had succeeded in driving Dick, and 
said that all the horse needed was exercise, and he 
would be at work in a few days. He thought, per¬ 
haps, a little exercise would do the rest of the horses 
good. 

The next day Shane proceeded to hitch Dick up 
again for the purpose of driving him. 

“ There’s no use talkin’,” he said to Mike, “ I have 
got to put these horses to work.” 

“Bether go slow,” said Mike, “for if ye put thim 
sick horses to work too soon ye may have dead ones.” 

“It is better to have dead horses than useless ones, 
just standin’ round eatin’. A dead horse don’t eat 
anything. It would be money in my pocket if they 
were all dead,” and he gave Dick a sharp cut with the 


52 


whip to start him. Dick laid back his ears and hob¬ 
bled away; but his looks appeared to indicate that a 
very little of the ichip would limber him up too much 
for the good of Shane’s health. Edith being aw r ay 
there w'as no one to give the horse a kind word to put 
him in a better humor. Shane mounted the cart and 
clucked to the horse to start, but Dick stood still. 
He had, evidently, made up his mind that he did not 
■want to work that day. Shane gave him a cut with 
the whip, but Dick laid back his ears and shook his 
head, as much as to say, “there is trouble coming 
for somebody.” 

“You won’t go, eh?” said Shane, and he gave the 
horse blow after blow with the whip, almost cutting the 
hide open. Dick made a lunge forward, but Shane 
pulled with all his strength on the reins, and the hard 
bit cut the horse’s mouth until it bled, and threw Dick 
back, on his haunches. The sudden halt threw Shane 
forward, and the reins were slackened. This w r as 
Dick’s opportunity, and he seized the bit in his teeth, 
a trick horses learn when they are abused, and which 
they practise to save themselves from punishment by 
the bit. Before Shane could recover himself, Dick 
bad started down the road, forgetting all about his stiff 
legs. Shane pulled on the reins until his arms ached, 
but it was the strength of a man against the strength 
of a horse. It w r as the steel bit against the teeth of 
the horse, now, and the teeth won. Down the road 
they flew with the speed of the wind. They neared 
the bend in the road, and Shane knew that the end would 


53 


come there, for he never could make the turn without 
upsetting the cart, but he was helpless. Straight at 
the fence w r ent Dick, paying no attention to the turn 
of the road, and with a bound he went over, and the 
cart was smashed to splinters. Shane lay beside the 
road unconscious, and to all appearance dead. 

Dick kicked himself free from the harness and sped 
across the held, thankful that he had the privilege to 
use his legs cnce more. Shane had spent his life 
among horses, but had never learned until now that he 
could not subdue a high-spirited horse by force. 

Mrs. Shane had seen the horse start and feared the 
result. An elevation in the road had cut off her view, 
after the horse had passed down the road a few rods, 
and she knew nothing of the result. She called Mike 
and Tom from the barn and told them what had 
occurred. 

“Oh! tliat*s all right, mother; I guess father can 
manage him, as lame as he is,” said Tom. “He won’t 
run very far before he will get tired.” 

“Begorra, I’m not so sure of that,” said Mike ; “it’s 
a fiery temper the horse has, an’ whin his blood’s up 
he’s hard to manage.” 

4 ‘ I would rather you would go after him and see if 
anything has happened,” said Mrs. Shane. 

“Why, how useless that would be, mother; there 
ain’t a horse on the farm we could drive, an’ we 
couldn’t catch him on foot.” 

“ I shall not rest until I know,” said Mrs. Shane. 

“Don’t worry about that. Father knows too much 


54 


about horses to let Dick get away from him that way,” 
said Tom. “Come, Mike, let’s go back to work.” 

Shane still lay beside the road unconscious. He had 
tried to manage the horse by brute force, and here was 
the result — the horse prancing over the field, exulting 
in his freedom, and the man lying unconscious beside 
the road. The horse had not expended a tithe of his 
strength, and the man was as helpless as the dead. 

At the time of the accident Edith was visiting Cora 
Tracy, and in the afternoon Mr. Tracy had occasion 
to hitch up his wagon and drive down the road on an 
errand to another farm, and as he was going by the 
Shane farm he told Edith she could ride with him. She 
gladly accepted his invitation, for it would save her a 
long walk. 

“I always like to ride behind your horses,” said 
Edith, as they drove along ; “they look so happy and 
contented.” 

“That’s the way I want them to be,” said Mr. 
Tracy. “They deserve to be happy just as much as 
I do, or any of my family.” 

‘ ‘ Do you think animals know anything about happi¬ 
ness or unhappiness ?” said Edith ; “that is, I mean do 
they know when we love them, and can they love us 
in return?” 

“That is a hard question to answer,” said Tracy; 
“but I think their actions indicate that they appre¬ 
ciate love and kindness as much as a human being 
does ; but whether they understand such things as we 
do or not, I cannot tell. I have always made it a rufe 


55 


to treat them as though they did. This is especially 
the case with horses and dogs. I find that I can get 
much better service out of them by treating mem 
kindly; and then I feel better myself when I have 
treated all the brute creation fairly, and have dealt 
justly by them.” 

“I wish papa would look at things as you do, and 
would take more interest in the welfare of his dumb 
animals,” said Edith. 

4 4 1 should think a good little teacher like you could 
teach him something about such things,” said Tracy. 

44 He won’t listen tome,” said Edith. 44 He says I 
am too young to know much about such things.” 

“Why, how is this?” exclaimed Tracy, as they 
passed along the road in the vicinity of the wreck, and 
saw Dick over in the field. “Here is a horse running 
loose with a bridle on and part of the harness. Why, 
it looks like”—he paused in his remark, for he recog¬ 
nized the horse as Mr. Shane’s. 

“It looks like Dick,” said Edith, taking up the sen¬ 
tence and finishing it for him ; 44 but it can’t be, for 
Dick is lame and this horse is not.” 

44 It looks like some one has been in trouble, but I 
don’t see any indications of it on the road. That is 
one way that high-spirited horses have of retaliating 
for ill-usage on the part of their masters,” he con¬ 
tinued, as they drove along the road. On nearing the 
turn of the road he saw evidences of the wreck made 
by Dick; but Edith’s bright eyes had seen it before lie 
did. 


56 


4< 0h! Mr. Tracy, there lias been a runaway, and 
there is- a man lying beside the road. Oh ! I know it 
must be papa. Do please drive faster and let us see.” 

Mr. Tracy needed no urging on this point, for he had 
already started his horses into a trot. As they neared 
the place the cause of the trouble was apparent. 
Edith leaped from the wagon and was at her father’s 
side in a moment. 

“Oh! dear, dear papa, speak to me,” she sobbed, as 
she lifted his head in her arms. “Oh! Mr. Tracy, is 
he dead?” she asked, between her sobs. 

“He is not dead, my dear girl, but very badly 
injured, I am afraid,” he answered. “ Can you stay 
here with him until 1 go for assistance?” 

“ No, no, don’t go away; I can help you lift him in 
the wagon and we will take him home.” 

“ Why, my dear girl, you have not strength to help 
me lift him.” 

“Oh! yes I have, Mr. Tracy ; I am strong. Come, 
let me help.” 

“Well, if you insist, we will try it,” he said; and 
they lifted him up and succeeded in getting him into 
the wagon, and drove as rapidly as possible to the 
Shane farm. When they arrived Edith hastened to the 
house and met her mother on the porch. Edith’s 
swollen eyes told the whole story to Mrs. Shane, and 
she clasped her daughter in her arms and sobbed : “Is 
he dead, Edie? is he dead?” 

“No, mamma; only hurt,” she replied, trying to 
keep up a stout heart. 


57 


Mrs. Shane hastened out to the wagon, and Edith 
hurried away in search of Tom and Mike, who came 
and carried Mr. Shane into the house. Mr. Tracy 
immediately went for the doctor. 

“ Now, Jerry and Tom, you’ll have to trot,” he said 
to his horses, as he touched them lightly with the whip. 
“ It’s a case of life and death, old boys, so skip along.” 
And the good horses skimmed over the ground in the 
best of humor, and soon returned with the doctor. 

On examination Shane was found to have a broken 
leg, and a contusion on the head. He remained in a 
semi-unconscious condition for the rest of the day. 
On the following morning he rallied, but had no recol¬ 
lection of the accident until Mrs. Shane explained the 
matter to him. The bitterest pang to him now was the 
thought of the two long months of enforced idleness 
and suffering that were before him. 


58 


CHAPTER VIII. 


HE story of the accident was soon spread 
abroad over the farm, and was commented 
on by all the animals; but the general 
opinion seemed to be that there would be 
one person less to abuse them — for a while anyhow. 

“ I’m sorry Tom wasn’t lixed somehow so that he 
couldn’t get out here to beat us,” said the cow. 

“I don’t like that way of doing,” said Dobbin to 
Dick. “ You went too far in that matter. Of course 
everybody will know now that you were playing off, 
and they may see through the whole thing, and that 
will result in more violence.” 

“Well, what is done can’t be undone,” said Dick; 
my temper got away with me, and I was tired of sham¬ 
ming. If I had been really lame Shane would have 
driven me just the same. I was lame for all he knew 
to the contrary, and when he whipped me I started to 
run before I had time to think. I knew I might as 
well make a complete job of it while I was at it; for 
Shane would know I was shamming anyhow, and I 
would have to fight it out with him sometime. You 
see, I had put myself in a position where I had to fight 
or surrender, and I preferred to fight.” 



59 





“It’s a very bad piece of business,” said Dobbin* 
“and may make trouble for all of us. You should 
have kept your temper.” 

“I tried to and failed, as you see,” said Dick. “I 
have neither your age nor experience in such matters, 
and make bad breaks sometimes.” 

“We will have to take some other means of protect¬ 
ing ourselves when Shane gets about again,” said Dob¬ 
bin ; “but that w r on’t be for a good many days, so 
Towser says.” 

“It’s open war with me now,” said Dick. “ I don’t 
intend that the harness shall go on my back again until 
this matter is settled. Towser was saying the other 
day that Shane said if ever we did get able to w r ork 
he would make us pay dear for our vacation.” 

The days were long and tedious for Shane as he lay 
on his bed and brooded over his troubles. To his 
physical suffering was added the worry about the con¬ 
dition of things on the farm. Mrs. Shane and the 
children tried to keep all further trouble from him by 
putting the condition of things in their most favorable 
light, but he understood his business too thoroughly 
to be deceived. 

“Tom, how long before that corn will be ready for 
the cultivator?” asked Shane, as Tom was passing 
through the room. 

“I don’t know,” said Tom, “but when it is the 
neighbors will all come in and plow it over for you.” 

“Did the blackbirds take much of it?” 

“I don’t think they took any of it,” said Tom. 

“ Is it a good stand ? ” 


60 


“It is good enough,” replied Tom ; “ don’t worry 
about that; it will come out all right.” 

“But I do worry about it. There is something 
wrong about it; I can tell it by your actions. Come, 
out with it. One more misfortune won’t kill me after 
I’ve gone through what 1 have.” 

“Well, if you must know,” said Tom, “the corn 
is not a good stand.” 

“ Not a good stand? What is the reason?” 

“If you must know about it I might as well tell you 
all about it. The corn crop is a failure. The worms 
have taken every stock of it, and it will have to be 
planted over. Now there ain’t any use to worry over 
it, for Mr. Tracy said that the neighbors would come 
in and plow up the ground and replant it; but he was 
afraid you would not raise much corn there on account 
of the worms.” 

“Was Tracy’s corn destroyed by the worms?” 

‘ No. ” 

“Nor Smith’s?” 

“No.” 

“Nor anybody’s else?” 

. “Nobody’s around here.” 

“Then fate is agin me, an’ I give up the fight,” 
said Shane. 

“Mr. Tracy says there is something peculiar about 
your corn, an’ he says he can’t account for it unless it 
is because there ain’t no birds here to take the worms. 
Mother an’ Edie have been talkin’ about there bein’ no 
birds here ; but I never noticed it particular till Tracy 


61 


spoke about it. But I don’t believe that had anything 
to do with it.” 

‘I don’t go nothin’ on them foolish notions of his,” 
said Shane; ‘ 4 but it does look like there’s a kind of 
a fate follerin’ me this spring.” 

“Well, don’t worry over it, an’ we’ll plant it over 
again, an’ may be it will come out all right in the 
end.” 

“There’ll be nothin’ in it this year. If the worms 
took it once they’ll take it again, an’ we’ll get nothin’ 
out of the corn crop this year.” 

Tom left Shane more despondent than ever, and he 
spent the remainder of the day in a very bad mood. 
As the shades of evening crept around him he felt the 
burden of his misfortunes more severely than ever. 
This, in connection with his broken limb, was more than 
he could bear, and caused him to groan aloud. The 
sound reached Edith, who sat in the adjoining room. 
She crept silently into his room and approached his 
bed. 

“Poor papa, are you suffering much?” she asked. 

" k Oh! yes, my girl; it seems like everything is 
goin’ to ruin.” 

“Why, papa, how you talk,” and she knelt down 
by his bedside. “Haven’t you a good home, and a 
loving family, and kind neighbors?” 

“les, yes, I know; but then there’ll be nothin’ 
made on the farm this year.” 

“What if there isn’t; w r e will be just as happy.” 

^ ou don t understand, girl; you are not old enough 
to understand these things.” 

O 

62 


“ Yes ; but I do understand them, papa. I’m seven¬ 
teen, and I know that you have been wearing out your 
life trying to la} 7 by money and buy more land. It 
isn’t making us any happier, but instead it is making 
you and all of us unhappy; and papa you are not so 
kind as you used to be. You don’t love us like you 
did when I was a little girl.” 

“Not love you, Edie? why, of course I do. It is 
for you I am trying to save up money. What better 
proof do you want of my love ? ” 

“Why, I want a little of this kind of love,” and she 
drew his arm around her neck and kissed him for the 
first time in years. 

This was a new experience for John Shane. The 
sunlight of such love had not penetrated the dusty 
recesses of his heart for years, and the dust would 
have to be cleared away before its genial warmth could 
reach his soul. 

“You are a good daughter, Edie; but you do not 
understand how necessary it is to have money to get 
along in the world.” 

“Oh! yes I do, papa; but I know that money 
alone will not bring happiness. Let us be happy and 
not worry about money.” 

“But how can we live without money, child?” 

“Why, you dear old papa, I know you have money 
enough in the bank to live on for a year if we didn’t 
raise any crops at all.” 

“ And what would you do when that was gone?” 

“Why, then you will be well, and the horses will be 


63 


wall, and we will all go to work with willing hands and 
nappy hearts. We will be kind and loving to every¬ 
body and everything, and we won’t think so much 
about making money.” 

“It sounds good to hear you talk that way, Edie, 
but I’m afraid it won’t work. A man must look out 
an’ provide for his own family, for if he don’t nobody 
will.” • ' 1 •' 

“Yes, but if he allows his love for his family to be 
driven out by the love of money it seems to me he has 
made a bad bargain.” 

“Well, good night, daughter; you’ve cheered me 
up for a while, anyhow. My misfortunes worry me 
most on account of those who are dependent on me. I 
want to put them above want.” 

“There now, papa; no more about that. Let us 
encourage love and kindness toward one another and 
trust in God. Good night, papa,” and she gave him 
another kiss and left him. 

John Shane was restless ; as the hours dragged their 
weary length along the loneliness of his situation 
pressed itself on him. The conversation with Edith had 
aroused the latent energies of his soul, and his heart 
yearned for human sympathy. He had lived a lonely 
life ; his whole soul had been possessed by the one idea 
of making money. He did not think that anyone else 
was suffering while he was following this false light, 
but here was Edith, who had been yearning for her 
father’s love and had been denied it. Her face 
haunted him ; her voice was ringing in his ears. Her 


64 


words were present in liis memory. Her face and 
voice reminded him of one that he had known long 
ago—one that he had loved in the years gone by. 
Who could it be? Why, Mary his wife, of course, 
whom he had almost forgotten that lie ever loved, and 
when he married her she looked like Edith ; why to be 
sure, and he had almost forgotten it. lie felt an 
indescribable desire to tell her that he loved her yet, 
and called her to him. When she came and stood 
beside his bed the vision created by a sick man’s iancy 
faded; for it was not Edith’s bright and sunny face 
that bent over him, but his wife’s, and the twenty 
years that she had toiled by his side had left their 
mark there. The youth and beauty had gone, and her 
hair was streaked with gray. It was Mary Shane that 
stood beside him, and not the vision of Mary Malott 
that Edith's face had recalled ; and he was John Shane 
again with wrinkled face and stooping shoulders. The 
vision had faded and the words of affection that his 
lips should have uttered were left unsaid. 

“Did you want something, John?” 

“ Only a little assistance in changing my position,” 
he replied. 

That done, she started away. His conscience smote 
him and the vision came back. He recalled her and 
she returned to his bedside. 

“What is it, John?” she inquired. 

“I am lonely to-night,” he replied; “can’t you sit 
with me a while ? ” 

u Why, yes; all night if you need me.” 


65 


She sat clown by him, and he told her how he was 
beginning to see that his life was not what it should be. 
That he had neglected his duty as a husband and 
father, and had lived too much alone, and that hence¬ 
forth he wanted to take his family more into his confi¬ 
dence. He would have told her that he loved her as of 
yore, but it had been so long since he had spoken such 
words of affection to her that the words came but 
awkwardly to his lips, and he left them unspoken. 
She replied, with tears in her eyes, that she knew that 
their thoughts had been drifting apart, and she hailed 
with joy the dawn of a brighter day, when their lives 
would flow in the same channel. 

Soothed by these thoughts he soon fell asleep, and 
his tired and worn out wife retired to rest, hoping that 
the future might not dispel the bright hopes raised that 
night. 


**» 


6f> 


CHAPTER IX. 


HE thoughts of the uight vanished with the 
gleams of the rising sun, and the good 
resolutions that John Shane had made in 
his conversation with his wife were soon 
forgotten. The coming of day always meant more to 
him, and the habit of being up with the sun to engage 
in his daily toil was of such a fixed character that it 
angered him to think that he was confined to his bed. 
Edith’s tenderness had led his fancy back twenty years, 
and he felt again the hopes that had inspired him in 
former years when Mary Malott became his wife ; but 
the light of day brought back the thoughts of his busi¬ 
ness, and he was even a little ashamed that he had 
allowed himself to indulge in such thoughts and words 
as he did the night before. 

The breath of mammon had dissipated the perfume 
of holiness that had penetrated his heart, and he was 
again the man of business, blinded by the glitter of 
gold, unable to see the beauties of a trusting wife and 
a loving daughter. 

Time passed on until two weeks had elapsed since 
the accident, and the strike was strictly maintained by 
all the animals. Their lot had been a little easier since 



67 





Shane had been confined to the house and they had 
only Tom to contend with, for Mike was not a hard¬ 
hearted fellow, but had only done the bidding of his 
employer. He never abused the dumb animals on the 
farm when he could avoid it. 

“I’ll tell ye, Tom,” said Mike, one day, “let’s thry 
a little different plan wid thim horses, an’ see if we 
can’t build ’em up a bit.” 

“Bother the horses ; they’re goin’ to destruction like 
everything else on the farm,” said Tom. 

“ Be aisy, now, ’til I tell ye how we’ll do it. Let’s 
clane out the stables, an’ put clane straw in the stalls 
for beddin’. Thin we’ll make a nice warm mash for 
’em to ate, an’ thrate ’em like gintlemen, begorra, an’ 
see if we can’t put some life into ’em.” 

“You can try it if you want to, but I shan’t fool 
away my time that way,” said Tom. 

“By your lave I’ll thry that same planmesilf, thin,” 
said Mike. 

Mike was as good as his w r ord, and brought the 
horses up at night, and had bedding of nice clean straw 
for them to sleep on. He curried, brushed and rubbed 
them, until their neglected coats began to shine again. 
He saw that they were properly fed with good whole¬ 
some food, and closed the openings in the stable, that 
the night winds might not blow on them. 

“What’s up now, do you suppose?” said Dobbin, 
after Mike had gone away. “ This begins to look like 
things were turning our way.” 

“T. don’t like favors coming from the hand of the 


68 


enemy,” said Dick. “Let’s go slow until we find out 
if there isn’t some trick in it.” 

“Well, no matter what the cause of the change is, 
I’m going to get all the pleasure I can out of my im¬ 
proved condition for one night, anyhow,” said the sor¬ 
rel horse ; and the gray mare said : “Them’s my senti¬ 
ments.” 

Mike followed up his plan by giving them the same 
attention the next day, and the horses began to think 
that a change had come for the better, but Dick main¬ 
tained that it was because their old enemy Shane was 
laid up. Mike never was a cruel master, and he 
thought Mike was taking advantage cf his employer’s 
sickness to give them a little better treatment. 

“ Well, if Mike is going to be fair with us, let’s be 
fair with him,” said the sorrel. “I’m kind of tired of 
playing sick, anyhow.” 

“I don’t object to working for anybody that will 
treat me fair,” said Dick; “and if Mike is going to 
treat us right I am willing to work.” 

About this time Mike went up to the house to see 
Mr. Shane. 

“Mornin’ to ye, Misther Shane; an’ how are ye this 
mornin’?” said Mike. 

“Bad, Mike, still bad,” said Shane; “everything 
is goin’ to ruin on the place I suppose.” 

“Faith now an’ they’re not. I’ve been tindin’ to 
thim horses mesilf for a few days; I’m tindin’ to ’em 
rigular, and ye ought to see the improvement in ’em. 
Why, they ’ll all be at work again in a few days. ’ ’ 


69 


“Well, that’s some encouragement anyhow,” said 
Shane. “What are you doing for the horses?” 

“I’m just tratin’ ’em like gintlemen. I’m doin’ 
unto thim horses as I ivould have thim do unto me. I 
ain’t much of a scholar, and maybe not so good a 
Christian as I ought to be, but I belave that’s a good 
•rule to go by. Just trate ’em kindly an’ dacently, an’ 
that’s the whole sacret of it all. Just lave me alone 
wid ’em, an’ I’ll have ’em at work again in a few 
days.” 

Edith came in shortly after Mike took his leave. 

“ Good morning, Edie ; I believe I feel a little bet¬ 
ter this morning,” said Shane. 

“I’m glad to hear that,” said Edith. “I’ll just 
open the window so that you can see out. I’m afraid 
mamma is going to be sick; she is scarcely able to 
be up.” 

“Why, what is the matter with her?” inquired 
Shane. He had been so engrossed by his own selfish 
thoughts that he had not noticed that his wife was 
wearing out under the increased duties put upon her 
siuce his sickness. 

Sure enough Mrs. Shane was taken sick that day, 
and Towser carried the news to the barnyard. 

“Well now, that’s bad,” said Dobbin. “Some one 
of us wall have to go for a doctor.” 

“I’ll go,” said Dick. 

“ I hope they’ll take me,” said the sorrel. “I am 
tired of staying at home, anyhow.” 

Mike was called up to go for a physician. “ Time 


70 


is money,” he said; “aid I’ll just take one of these 
horses. I wonther which one of the lazy rogues I’d 
betlier take.” 

Dick whinnied, as much as to say, “I’ll go.” 

“Ah! ye rogue, would ye tliry yer ould thrick an’ 
run away wid me? But ye’re the fastest one of the lot, 
an’ I’ll tliry ye anyhow.” 

He harnessed Dick, and hitched him to the buggy. 
Once in the highway, Dick skimmed over the ground 
like a bird and soon brought the physician to Mrs. 
Shane’s bedside. 

“It was just a case of overwork and lack of sleep,” 
said the physician. “Too much hard work in the day, 
and sitting up of nights, and all she needed was com¬ 
plete rest.” 

Mr. Tracy came over that day to see Shane. 

“Things are worse than ever, now, Neighbor Tracy,” 
said Shane, and he related his new misfortune in his 
wife’s sickness. “Why, I never thought about her 
overworkin’ herself,” he said. 

“Well, if you’ll allow me to speak plainly to you, 
neighbor Shane, you should have seen that your wife 
was breaking down under the strain of increased duties 
that have been put upon her since your sickness.” 

“I admit it,” said Shane; “but I had so many 
things to think of that I never thought of it.” 

“Why, my dear friend, is there anything more im¬ 
portant to you than the health and happiness of your 
family? The happiness of those who are dependent 
upon you should be the uppermost thought in your 


71 


mind. The wife who has confided her life to your 
keeping should be the first in your thoughts.” 

“I really had not thought about her being over¬ 
worked,” said Shane. 

“ You have a false idea of the powers of endurance 
of both man and beast. There is a limit to the physi¬ 
cal endurance of both, which can be and often is 
exceeded. You have the proof of that statement 
before you. Your wife is down sick from overwork, 
and your horses are disabled from the same cause.” 

“ There, I don’t agree with you,” said Shane. “It’s 
just a streak of bad luck I have struck, and I couldn’t 
help it.” 

“If you would just stop and reason about the mat¬ 
ter you would see it in a different light. I don’t want 
to intrude upon your private affairs, but I feel lhat it 
is my duty to present some things to you in the light 
that I see them, for I think that you are blinded, and 
do not see things that are to your interest. You have 
sacrificed your own happiness and that of your family 
to get money, and what have you got in return? Why, 
nothing; while I, who have followed the other rule of 
seeking happiness, have more of this world’s wealth 
than you have, and I do not want to say it with any 
thought of boasting.” 

“You always was lucky,” said Shane. 

“There is no luck about it,” said Tracy. “The 
word of God is true, and if a man tries to follow its 
teachings I believe he will be prospered.” 

Edith had come in and sat down by Shane’s bed¬ 
side, and taken his hand in hers. 

72 


“Papa,” she said, “I think Mr. Tracy is right, and 
I wish you would heed his words. ’ ’ 

“There is something peculiar about the condition of 
things here on the farm,” continued Tracy, “which I 
am unable to understand; and while I don’t think that 
God ever singles out one individual on which to inflict 
punishment, yet it does not seem to me that the situa¬ 
tion of things here is a matter of chance. Why, if 
you have not noticed it I will call your attention to 
the fact that there is not a bird on your farm.” 

“Yes, papa; if you will just listen there is not a 
bird’s voice to be heard, and they used to sing so 
sweetly,” said Edith. “It is so lonely without them, 
and makes me feel like some great misfortune is hang¬ 
ing over us.” 

“I think my attention had been called to their 
absence,” said Shane; “but I thought I was lucky to 
get rid of ’em.” 

“Quite the contrary,” said Tracy, “it is the most 
unfortunate thing that has occurred to you. Those 
birds that you have been trying to kill all your life, 
and which you have succeeded in driving away, would 
have saved your crop, which has been destroyed by 
worms and insects. Why, there have been hundreds 
of them in my fields all the spring, and see what*a fine 
prospect I have for a good crop. If you would take 
time to study these matters you would see that birds 
are one of the best gifts God has given us. They 
destroy immense numbers of insects that are injurious 
to trees and plants, and I think that all the vegetation 


73 



on your farm shows the absence of what would be your 
best friends. 'Whether you drove them away or 
whether some superior intelligence directed their flight 
I cannot tell, but they are gone, and your farm is suf¬ 
fering from their absence.” 

“That is true, papa. The birds were your friends, 
and you drove them away,” said Edith. 

“There may be something in that,” said Shane, half 
convinced; “an’ I’ll think about it.” 

“God gave us the beasts and birds for our use and 
benefit. He gave man dominion over them, and he 
has not withdrawn or changed his law; but he can 
remove them from our presence, as he has removed 
the birds from this farm. He can disable the dumb 
animals so that they cannot work for us, as is the 
case with your horses, although I think the condi¬ 
tion of your horses is the result of overwork. You 
will have to admit that you have overworked your 
horses this spring. It is a remarkable fact that they 
all became afflicted at the same time, and one that I 
can’t understand. You must realize, friend Shane, 
that horses have a physical construction similar to our 
own, and that their strength can be overtaxed the 
same as a man’s, and if overwork will break down 
your wife’s health, as you now see that it has, why 
will it not do the same to a horse ? ” 

“I begin to see that I may have been mistaken in 
regard to these matters,” said Shane, and Edith gave 
his hand an encouraging clasp. 

“Why, kindness goes a long way with dumb brutes 


74 


in helping them to bear up under hard -work,” con- 
tinued Tracy, “ and I fear that you haven't given your 
animals the encouragement o f kind words even. Love 
and kindness are the powers that govern the* world. 
You may control a horse by force for a while, but if he 
has any spirit it will break out sometime, and the horse 
by his superior strength will be master, as was the case 
with Dick when he ran away with you. Mike said he 
never saw a horse drive nicer than Dick did when he 
went after the doctor. Why, you wouldn’t know your 
own horses, Shane, since Mike has been applying the 
‘golden rule’ to them, as he says. If they keep on 
improving they will be at work again in a short time.” 

“Won’t that be nice, papa?” said Edith. 

“I give you these points to think about, and when 
you get up put them into practice, and see if it does 
not prove more profitable than the old way. I’ll get 
the neighbors together and we’ll replant that corn and 
see if you can’t make a crop yet. I’ll send Cora over 
to help Edie with the work until you can get some one 
else. So good bye, friend Shane, and don’t worry 
about your business, for your neighbors will help you 
out.” 


75 


CHAPTER X. 


HANE thought seriously about the conver¬ 
sation he had with Tracy, and came to the 
conclusion that perhaps he had been fol¬ 
lowing a false light — that he had not 
gotten as much happiness out of life as he might. He 
recalled many acts of unkindness towards the wife and 
daughter who loved him, and he resolved to lead a dif¬ 
ferent life. 

While these thoughts were in his mind Edith came 
into the room and sat down beside him. 

“How is your mother now, Edie?” he said. 

“I think she is better, papa.” 

“Edie, I’ve been thinkin’ that I haven’t done right 
by her. I haven’t made her life as happy as I might, 
an’ I’m goin’ to change things when I get well.” 

“I’m sure mamma never complains, papa, but we 
would all be so much happier if you would give us the 
same love you used to,” said Edith, “and give up this 
struggle for money and try to be happy.” 

“That’s what I’m goin’ to do, Edie.” 

“ Oh! papa, I’m so glad,” and she put her arms 
around his neck. 

“And, Edie, you spend a good deal of time readin* 
books ; what do you think of Tracy’s ideas in regard to 
animals ? ” 



76 




“They are true, papa, they are true.,” she said. 
“God gave us the birds and animals, and I think 
it is a sin for us to abuse them. He will certainly hold 
us to account for our treatment of his creatures.” Her 
bowed head bent over his face, and a tear-drop from 
her eye fell on his cheek. “And oh! papa, if you 
would be loving and kind, not only to mamma and 
Tom and me, but to all the living creatures that God has 
given us, I would love you so much, and we would be 
so much happier.” 

“There, now, daughter, don’t cry. I believe you 
are right about it, an’ I’m goin’ to change things an' 
try a new way. It may come a little awkward at first, 
but I think I can get used to it.” 

“Oh! papa, I’m so glad. I’ll go and tell mamma, 
and it will help her to get well,” said Edith. 

“Just send Tom in; I want to talk to him awhile,” 
said Shane. 

Tom sauntered into his father’s room wondering what 
was up, for he had seen by Edith’s face that some¬ 
thing important had happened. 

“Tom,” said Shane, after a pause of a few seconds, 
“ I’ve come to the conclusion that we haven’t been 
runnin’ the farm on the right principle. I know you’ve 
been follerin’ in my footsteps an’ doin’ things as I do 
’em, which is quite natural for a boy to do ; but I guess 
we’ve been mistaken in a few things, an’ we’ll just take 
a square turn an’ make a new start in another direction. 
There’s somethin’ wrong on the farm, an’ if it’s a judg¬ 
ment sent on us for some of our shortcomings, why, 


77 


let’s try an’ git in the right path agin. We’ll try kind¬ 
ness toward our dumb animals, an’ the birds, an’ each 
other, an’ see if that ain’t a better rule to live by.” 

“I’m agreed to that,” said Tom, much to his father’s 
surprise, “for I’ve been thinking some that way my¬ 
self, since Mike has been takin’ care of the horses an’ 
apply in’ the ‘ golden rule ’ to ’em, as he says. It has 
helped ’em more than all of Hodge’s doctorin’.” 

“Well, we’ll try the rule of kindness from nowon,” 
said Shane, and so the matter was settled. 

Towser, who had been lying under the window, got 
up and capered about the yard for pure joy, and the 
next morning, before daybreak, he was out in the 
barnyard and had related the whole story of Shane’s 
new resolutions, which created quite a sensation among 
the animals. 

“I think we have reason to believe that it is all true, 
for we have had much better treatment in the past 
week than ever before in our lives,” said Dobbin. 

“I feel quite well this morning, and if I had a good 
feed I think I could pull a plow,” said the sorrel. 

“Under the circumstances I’m ready to go to work 
again,” said the gray mare. 

“I wish I could lay two eggs to-day,” cackled the 
hen, and as an evidence of her good intentions she 
made a new nest on the barn floor, where Edith could 
Dot help but find it. 

Dobbin called another convention of all the birds 
and animals for the purpose of declaring the strike 
ended, and Towser volunteered to carry the news aV 


78 


around; and at noon, when they met at the oak tree, 
there was not one absent. Towser related what he had 
heard under the window, and they all accepted the 
matter as a settled fact. 

Dobbin declared the strike ended, and requested 
them all to go to work in good earnest to help Shane 
out of his troubles. The horses all agreed to go to 
work the next day. The cow said she would astonish 
everybody by the amount of milk she would give. 

Towser told them that farmer Tracy had promised 
that the neighbors would come and replant the corn the 
next day. 

“Then I will have a few hundreds of my friends 
here to kill all the worms in the field if they will lei 
us,” said the blackbird, and all the other birds volun¬ 
teered their assistance and promised that the farm 
should' be immediately inhabited by an army of birds. 

The meeting adjourned sine die, and then there was 
great rejoicing over the success of the strike. 

“Why, there’s a robin in the cedar tree,” said 
Edith, in surprise that afternoon. “It seems like a 
promise of better times to hear its welcome voice. 
Why, mamma, just listen, there is a host of them 
coming.” 

The trees were soon filled with birds of all kinds, 
which chirped and sang with all their power. 

“Papa, just listen to the birds,” said Edith, entering 
her father's room. “Isn’t it delightful to have them 
back again?” 

“It does seem more pleasant to have ’em here,” said 


79 


Shane; “but it’s the strangest thing I e*er heard of 
that they’d all come back at once.” 

“Perhaps God sent them bach on account of your 
good resolutions to be hind to all his creatures ,” said 
Edith, and she knelt down by his bedside and put her 
arms around his neck. “ Premise me here in His name, 
papa, that you will keep that resolution/ 

“I do,” he answered. 

“Well, I never seen the like,” shouted Tom, as he 
came bolting into the house. “Them horses are just 
prancin’ an’ runnin* all over the pasture, just like they 
never had anything the matter with ’em. Seems like 
Mike’s treatment was purty good to cure ’em up so 
soon. 1 think old Hodges had better take a few les¬ 
sons from him.” 

“Yes, and don’t forget to take a few lessons your¬ 
self, Tom, for you may have to practice in that line. 
Listen to the birds, toe,” said Edith. 

“By gracious I hadn’t noticed ’em. It begins to 
loDk like the old place was coming back to itself, don’t 
it?” and he caught her around the waist and "whirled 
her away in a fantastic dance, until she broke loose 
from him to go to her mother’s room with the good 
news. 

In the morning, as Tom went out to the barn he 
saw three or four cats running about the barn, and 
picked up a stone to throw at them. 

“ Be aisy there , now” said Mihe; 4 it’s agin the 
rules to do that now” 

“Right you are,” said Tom ; “ but I can’t get used 

to it. What are they doing here, anyhow?” 

80 


“Begorra, they’re killin’ all the rats in the barn, an’ 
the divil a rat can get away from all tliim cats.” 

“ Good luck to ’em, then, for the rats were about to 
take us,” said Tom. “How were the horses?” 

“Now, look ye, Tom; do ye mind how lame tliim 
horses was?” 

“Yes.” 

“Well, the divil a stiff leg is there among ’em at all, 
except Dobbin.” 

“How do you account for it?” asked Tom. 

“ It’s the tratement I give ’em . I’ve got a resate 
for it , an’ it’s good for man an’ baste, an’ ivery other 
living crayture. Ye’ll find it in the Good Book, an’ its 
like this : *• Do thou unto others as thou wouldst have 
them do unto thee,’ an’ that’s a good resate , begorra 

“Why, Mike, you're getting poetical.” 

“ Sure an’ I’m feelin’ poetical, an’ if me voice wasn’t 
out of tune I’d sing ye a bit of a song.” 

“ Never mind your voice ; give us the song.” 

“Thin here goes wid a song I composed mesilf to 
suit the occasion : — 

I’m Michael McCarty, 

So hale and so hearty— 

I work ivery day in the year; 

The horses all know me, 

The cattle all show me 

They know they have nothing to fear. 

Stan’ up for the brutes, 

An’ the birds, if it suits. 

An’ the chickens an’ turkeys alone. 

81 


For God made ’em all, 

’An they came at his call. 

An’ he gave ’em to man for his own. 

We shouldn’t abuse ’em, 

Nor cruelly use ’em; 

Begorra, I know I am right, 

An’ before ye shall do it, 

1*11 have ye to know it, 

’Tis Michael M’Carty ye‘11 fights 

“Bravo! Mike,” shouted Edith, who had entered 
the barn unperceived just as Mike commenced his 

song. 

“Faith, I didn’t know I had such an ilegant audi¬ 
ence, or sure I’d have been blushin’ all the time.” 

“ Quite unnecessary, I am sure,” said Edith; “your 
audience appreciates your song, and will encore you on 
the slightest provocation.” 

“Thin I could only bow me thanks, for sure *tis the 
only song I know,” said Mike; “an’ ’tis that swate 
voice of yours we would like to hear, if ye’ll be so 
kind as to sing us a song.” 

“Oh ! excuse me, please,” said Edith. 

“Oh! come, now,” said Tom, “ you slipped into our 
entertainment an’ you can’t get off so easy. Give us 
a song or I’ll lock you in the barn.” 

“An’ I’ll let ye out,” said Mike, “but sing us a 
song, because ye’re a nice, swate little girl an* want 
to plaze yer frinds.” 


82 


44 Well, if I must, I will,” said Edith, and she sang; 
the following lines to the tune of “Auld Lang Syne” s 

This earth was once inhabited 
By birds and beasts alone, 

Who held dominion over it, 

And ruled it as their own 

’Till God created man and made 
Him ruler over all; 

And then the birds and beasts at once 
Fell prostrate at his call. 

Restrain the hand in anger raised 
To treat them cruelly; 

He gave them as a precious gift 
In trust to you and me. 

He gave them for our benefit. 

And not to be abused, 

And he who violates that trust 
Stands before God accused. 

Then do to them as thou wouldst wish 
That they should do to thee, 

And do not violate the trust 
God placed in you and me. 

“Thank ye, Miss Edith, thank ye; it’s a beautiful 
song, it is. I’m not much at the singin’ like ye are ; 
but I can be doin’ them things ye sung about, an’ I’ll 
not be forgettin’ ’em soon.” 

“Now, come on, bye, an’ let’s be gettin’ ready for 
the work. The neighbors will all be cornin’ in purty 
soon to replant the corn, an’ won’t they be surprised 
to see us wid a good team goin’ out into the field to 

work? Begorra they will.” 

83 


CHAPTER XI. 


OHN Shane’s neighbors came promptly to 
his assistance, as they always do in farming 
communities. They came with their teams 
and tools, prepared to put in the corn, and 
the work of plowing up the ground and replanting the 
corn went merrily on. The birds came and did their 
share of the work. They followed the plow r s all day 
long and caught every worm that came to view. The 
men plowed the ground and harrowed it and stirred it 
all they could, so that the birds might get the worms. 
Shane’s horses went to the work with a will, and did as 
much as any team on the farm. It was a glorious day, 
and a jollier crowd of men never got together than 
these same farmers. They felt happy because they 
were doing a generous deed, and they worked with a 
will until noon. The dinner bell rang and they went 
to the house to meet a fresh surprise. Every man’s 
wife and daughter was there, and they had spread a 
long table under the trees, and put on it a feast that 
would tempt the appetite of an epicure. 

They had gotten Mr. Shane in a chair and placed 
him at the window where he could see it all; and 
Mrs. Shane sat by his side, husband and wife, happier 



84 




than they had been in many years. What a great 
feast that was there under the trees. What appetites 
the men had, and how eager the women were to satisfy 
them. They laughed and joked and ate, and there 
never was such a jolly time as they had on the Shane 
farm. 

They worked all day and came back the next day, 
and worked until every hill of corn was planted again. 
The next day the rain fell and moistened the ground, 
and the sun came out and warmed it, and the corn 
sprouted and grew, and there was a great prospect for 
the future. ’Tis true the worms took some of it, but 
they had put an extra grain in each hill for the worms. 
The birds could not get all the worms, but they got 
most of them. The Shane farm was getting in accord 
with the plan of the universe, and prosperity was smil¬ 
ing on it. 

Shane felt that he was in the right path now, and he 
studiously followed it. During the time he was con¬ 
fined to the house with his broken limb Edith had 
induced him to read the books loaned her by Cora 
Tracy, which treat of animals and birds and their 
uses. 

In a few more weeks Shane recovered so much that 
he could walk about the farm on crutches. He could 
not help but mark the difference in the appearance of 
things. There was a look of content about every¬ 
thing. 

The first time he went to the barn Dick came up to 

I 

him, and putting out his nose touched Shane’s hand. 


85 


“I actually believe the horse is trying to ask m 5 
pardon,” said Shane. “It would be more proper for 
me to ask his pardon for mistreating him so long.” 

He patted Dick’s neck and said, “I think we under¬ 
stand each other now, old fellow.” 

“I tell ye, Misther Shane, I never see horses work 
nicer than these same horses of yours,” said Mike. 
‘I think we’ll have Dobbin prancin’ around again 
purty soon.” 

“Poor old Dobbin. I’m afraid he’ll not get much 
more enjoyment out of life, but he shall have an easy 
time of it as long as he lives.” 

But ere another year had gone by old Dobbin found 
a resting place beneath the sod, and the question was 
again asked, “ Who knowefi that the spirit of man 
goeth upward and the spirit of the beast goeth down¬ 
ward,?” God created him and made him subject to the 
will of man, and in the end God took him. The part 
that was mortal went back to the earth. If there was 
any immortal element in him God took it and knows 
what to do with it. 

The work went on merrily on the Shane farm, and 
everything prospered. The birds did their duty nobly, 
and the crops were looking splendidly. Shane com¬ 
pletely recovered from his broken limb, and people 
remarked that Shane didn’t seem like the same man he 
used to be. He had learned that the birds were his 
friends ; he had watched them in their work during the 
summer, and noticed how diligent they were in 
searching for insects. They took a few cherries and 

berries, it is true, but when he came to estimate the 

86 


value of the fruit taken lie saw that its value was 
greatly overbalanced by the benefits he received. 

He had been accustomed to employing men to work 
for him, and he estimated the wages he would have to 
pay these men in comparison with the profits he could 
make out of their labor. If the balance was on his 
side of the account he employed them, and if not he 
didn’t. He estimated the same way in regard to the 
birds. 

The corn crop destroyed by the worms in the spring 
was w T orth more than all the fruit on his farm, and the 
second crop planted, which he believed now was saved 
by the birds, was worth all the fruit he would raise in 
several years. So he reasoned the matter with Edith. 

“But, papa,” she said, “isn’t there something 
grander and nobler in this question than the mere 
money side of it ? ” 

“Oh! yes, Edie; I see that side of the question, 
too. I recognize now that they are God’s creatures , 
sent for our benefit , and that as he has given them to us 
he can take them away,” 

4 4 And isn’t there something more than that ? ” asked 
Edith. 

44 Yes ; I appreciate their sweet songs now as I never 
did before. There are a great many beauties in nature 
that I never saw before. I begin to appreciate the 
gentleness and docility of our domestic animals. I 
don’t blame Dick for running away wfith me ; he only 
retaliated for the ill-usage I had given him. I do not 
intend that any dumb animal shall ever be mistreated 
on this farm again.” 


87 




“Faith an’ I don’t think there’s iny body on the 
farm now that wants to mistrate ’em, Misther Shane,” 
said Mike, who had come in with Tom. 

“I can trust }mu, Mike, for you always was opposed 
to mistreating the animals, but I didn’t know but what 
Tom might have some of the old ideas yet,” said 
Shane w 

“ Niver ye fear for that bye, Misther Shane. Be- 
gorra, he’s a bigger crank than Misther Tracy himsilf, 
an’ I think it’s a young leecly of that name that’s having 
a dale of influence wid ’im on thim points , eh?” and he 
gave Tom a vigorous poke in the ribs. 

“Oh! shut up,” said Tom, “ that rattle-clap tongue 
of yours is always clattering about something.” 

“All right, me bye, ’tis Michael McCarty knows a 
thing or two, an’ he has the tongue to tell ye of it wid 
Arrah, I’ve been kapin’ me two eyes open mesilf, 
this summer, an’ I’ve changed the song I sung ye in 
the spring like this : — 

Tom Shane's a bye of some good sinse — 

He’s goin’ to use it all, 

An' from the looks of tilings just now, 

Bedad he'll marry this fall, 

Bedad he'll marry this fall, 

An’ from the looks of things just now, 

Bedad he’ll marry this fall. 

That is, ye know, if he can get his feyther’s consint.” 

The laugh was at Tom’s expense, and they retired 
in good humor. 

“Mike’s surmise was correct, for Tom Shane and 


88 


Cora Tracy were married the next winter, and it was 
her influence which had worked a change in Tom’s 
thoughts and actions towards the lower animals. 

The summer wore away and the winter was coming 
on. Shane’s corn crop was in the crib, and had yielded 
far beyond his expectations, and his horses were sleek 
and fat and happy. He had brought the carpenters 
up from the village to repair the stables so that no cold 
blasts of winter winds would blow on his horses. He 
had bought blankets for his horses — something he had 
never done before. 

The cold weather came on apace, and about the mid¬ 
dle of November there came a snowstorm. The piti¬ 
less blasts of wind drove the snow in blinding sheets 
across the fields, and made the warm fireside in the 
Shane household seem doubly dear to all who love a 
home. 

Edith was standing at the window watching the 
gusts of wind drive the snow about. 

“ Oh ! say, papa, there is some animal down at the 
gate,” said Edith. “Are any of ours out?” 

“I think not,” he said, coming to the window. 
“ Ah ! it is that old mule that has been living in the 
highway all summer.” 

“ Whom does it belong to, papa?” 

“I don’t know ; it is a stray. It looks like a shame 
to let the old fellow stand out there and starve,” said 
Shane. 

“Let’s take him in until the storm is over, anyhow,” 
aaid Edith. 


89 


“ Well, it shall be done,” said Shane. “Tom, you 
an’ Mike go an’ put that old mule in the back stall an* 
give him something to eat.” 

The mule, much to his astonishment, was driven into 
the stable and put in a warm stall. Corn and hay 
were put in for him to eat, and he proceeded to fill his 
empty stomach without any thought of saying grace. 

“How is this?” he cried to Dobbin; “there’s been 
some changes since I was here before.” 

“Well, I should say so,” said Dobbin. “ We have 
everything heart could wish for now.” 

“Well, I’m glad to hear that,” said the mule, “and 
if I can get a job here I’m going to stay.” 

“I hope you will,” said Dobbin, “ for we all feel 
kindly towards you for instructing us how to carry on 
the strike.” 

“Well, there’s one mule thoroughly surprised,” said 
Tom, after they had returned to the house. “ I never 
saw an animal look so surprised as he did when we put 
him in the stable; an’ the way he shook the snow off 
his old faded hide and went for that corn was a sight 
to see.” 

“Well, it won’t cost much to keep him, an’ I guess 
we’ll just let him stay this winter,” and the mule got 
his job. 

“ That’s right , Mistlier Shane , an’ the good God will 
give ye cridit for it in the nixt world ” said Mike. 

“And all God-fearing people will give you credit for 
it in this world,” said Mrs. Shane. 


90 


“The satisfaction of a good easy conscience is all 
the reward I want,” said Shane. 

Prosperity smiles on John Shane’s farm, and no con¬ 
sideration would induce him to return to the old way 
of living. May the time soon come when all men will 
recognize the fact that the laws of Gocl and humanity 
require us to be merciful to the dumb animals , and to 
grant the same justice and mercy to them ice would ask 
for ourselves . 


DUMB ANIMALS 


AND HOW TO TREAT THEM 


By EDWIN KIRBY WHITEHEAD 


Animals, Beasts or Brutes. 


S FAR as possible treat animals as you would think you 



i \ ought to be treated by them if you were in their place and 
they in yours. 

An animal is any living creature which can feel pain and 
pleasure. All animals except men are called dumb animals be¬ 
cause man alone has the power of articulate speech. Dumb ani¬ 
mals can utter sounds and cries of many kinds but not articu¬ 
late or joinecl-togetlier sounds. Beasts are the same as dumb 
animals. Brutes is also only another name for dumb animals. 
Dumb animals are also called the lower animals because they 
are generally lower than man in intelligence and were once sup¬ 
posed to be lower than man in all ways. 

Animals have a right to be well treated by us in all possible 
ways. We have a right to use them but not to abuse or neglect 
them. 

-- 

Are you an animal ? Is a bird an animal ? A tree ? A 
bug? A worm? The King of England? The President of the 





United States? Why, in each case? Which of these are dumb 
animals? Which brutes? Which beasts? How many kinds of 
animals are not dumb? What do you mean by dumb? f What 
do you mean by speech ? By articulate speech ? On which one 
of the words, dumb animal, should the stress be laid? Why? 
What is the difference between wild, tame and domestic ani¬ 
mals? Give an example of each. What is meant by owning an 
animal? What rights does ownership of an animal give the 
owner? What duties does ownership of an animal lay on the 
owner ? What do you mean by using an animal ? Give examples. 
By abusing an animal? Give examples. Does ownership of an 
animal give the owner the right to abuse him? Why? Does 
anything give such a right to anybody? Why? What are an 
juiimal’s own rights which stand in the way of anyone having a 
right to abuse 9 .. x 

- * - 

li orses and What We Owe iiicrn. 

E VERYBODY owes a great deal to horses, whether he owns 
and uses any himself or not. That has been true for thou- 
snnds of years, ever since history began, just as it is today. Their 
strength and speed are so great compared to ours that a great 
deal of the work we do all over the world could not be done at 
all without their help. The cost of doing many other kinds of 
work would be so great without the help of horses that we could 
not afford to do it. If we had not had the help of horses in 
time past so much of the work done then could not have been 
done that the nations of the world would not exist as they now 
do. The lack of them would have made so great a difference that 
towns, cities and countries would not exist as they are now and 
we probably would not be here to-day. They have helped very 
grcatlj r to make the world that we live in and enjoy what it is. 

93 




Stop and think what it would be like if, all at once, there 
were no horses any more; you would then see how much we have 
to depend on them. There would be no way of plowing farms 
and gardens, or of hauling crops to market. There would be no 
hauling of goods, coal, lumber or stone, and no need of wagons 
or carriages. Almost all kinds of business would have to stop 
for a while until some other way of doing the work that horses 
do could be found. 

- * - 

Which is the most useful of all animals to us? How and 
why? What did horses have to do with the clothes you have on? 
Give all the ways you can think of. What did they have to do 
with building the house you live in? The bed you sleep in? 
The food you ate this morning? The bread? Meat? Milk? 

Fruit? Your shoes? Your hat? This school? How would you 

94 






have gotten all these things if there were no horses ? Bring 
some stories about horses. 

- * - 


Horses and What We Owe Them. 


A LMOST everything we have and use depends in some way on 
the help of horses, even things which at first thought do not 
seem to have anything to do with them. It is the same in city 
and country. It is the same in peace and war. Their work 
helped to build railroad trains and even the ships on the sea. 

If you stop to think how much our progress, our comfort, 
our happiness and even our lives depend on horses, you will 
begin to love and respect them as they deserve. We owe them, 
therefore, great debts of justice, gratitude and kindness in every 
way for what they do for us. Besides what we owe them on 
our account they have a right to be Avell treated for their own 
sakes. We owe them whatever they have a right to have. 

- * - 

Describe how horses are used in five different kinds of work. 
Describe the different ways in which horses suffer in war, and 
point out the difference if any. Describe what you mean by 
our progress, comfort and happiness which depend so much on 
horses. Describe what you mean by the justice, gratitude and 
kindness we owe horses on our own account. Explain why 
horses have a right to be well treated on their own account. 
Ought you to treat a hired horse as well as one you own ? Why f 
Describe how horses help to build railroad trains and ships. 
For whom do horses work? Fight in war? What do they get 
out of their work and suffering? Who gets the rest of what 
their efforts produce? 


95 




How Much Horses and Other Animals Are Like Us. 


H ORSES and all the higher dumb animals are like us 
in most ways instead of being different from us in most 
ways. Many people think be¬ 
cause horses, for instance, are 
covered all over with hair, or 
because they walk on four 
legs, or because they cannot 
talk or because they eat grass 
they are, therefore, entirely 
different from us. The truth 
is that in nearly all important 
respects we and they are alike. 

Their bodies are made of 
flesh and blood and bones and 
nerves like ours, even if their 
looks and ours are different. 

The necessities of their lives 
are the same as ours. The 
causes of their pain and pleas¬ 
ure are the same in nearly 
all cases as the causes of ours. 

The nearer they approach 

us in intelligence the more like 
us they become. Their minds Peeking round the bam 

are like ours as far as they go. They think, remember and reason 
from cause to effect, and from effect back to cause. When a 
horse watches a man open a barn door by unfastening a latch 
and afterwards unfastens the latch himself in order to get into 
the barn he reasons that unfastening the latch will let him into 
the barn. When a cat mews for her supper, or a dog scratches at 
the door to get in, they remember that by doing so before they 











got what they wanted, and reason that if they do so again they 
will again be supplied. 

- * - 

How many senses have you and what are they 1 How many 
senses has a horse or other like animal and what are they? Name 
ten things you do which a horse does also. Name ten things yon 
need which an animal like a horse or cow or dog needs also. 
Name ten things which would give you pleasure and ten things 
which would give an animal pleasure. Ten things which would 
give either of you pain. What would you do if you were hun¬ 
gry and had nothing to eat? What would a horse do? What 
could he do? If you were thirsty but had your hands tied, were 
dumb and then tied to a post, or shut up in a barn and tied, 
how would you get water ? In how many ways would your con¬ 
dition then be like that of a horse or cow or dog tied up or shut 
up in a barn ? Name ten w T ays in which you can use your hands 
and arms in which a horse or cow cannot use their hoofs and 
legs. When you are scared, teased, nervous, anxious, cold, sick, 
tired, shut up against your will, punished unjustly, or spoken to 
harshly and unkindly, what can you do to relieve yourself from 
each or all of these things? What could an animal, if tied or 
shut up, do to relieve himself from any one of these things? 
Tell all the ways you can think of in which horses are like us, 


97 



How Much Animals are Like Us 


A NIMALS also have feelings like ours. They are sometimes 
even more sensitive than we are. They love their friends 
and hate their enemies, are 
glad and sad, have fear, an¬ 
ger, jealousy, hope and joy, 
feel sorry and are hurt just 
like us. It is very easy to 
hurt the feelings of most ani¬ 
mals. Some great horse breed¬ 
ers discharge any servant 
who speaks harshly to one of 
the horses. It hurts the feel¬ 
ings of animals to scold them 
and makes them happy to 
praise them just as it does us. 

They show their feelings in 
the expression of their faces 
and in their actions just as 
we do. 

The more you think and 
study about this and the bet¬ 
ter acquainted you get with 
animals the more plainly you 
will see that in only a few Weighing the baby 

things they are different from us, and in all the rest they are 
like us. The higher animals are more like us than the lower ones. 

The ones we keep with us are more like us than those who 
do not live with us. The more we talk to, pet and treat them 
kindly the more they grow to be like us. 

T o illustrate this: we take a great deal of pleasure in the 

98 









different pleasant flavors of the tilings we eat. It is the same 
"with animals. Moreover, they learn to like many flavors when 
they are given a chance to try them, often the same flavors we 
like. Like ourselves, also, one animal likes a certain flavor while 
another animal of the same kind dislikes it. Not all horses like 
the same kind of hay or grass. 

We look forward with pleasant anticipation to our meals, 
to rest and sleep, and to other things we enjoy. Animals do the 
same. W e are disappointed when we fail to get what we 
expected. Animals are disappointed in exactly the same way. 
For that reason we should never tease or disappoint animals by 
withholding or withdrawing what has been promised them. 
They look forward to their food, rest and the few pleasures or 
comforts they expect or are used to, and are bitterly disappointed 
and downcast when deprived of them, exactly as you are. 


How many senses have you and what are they? Does an 
animal have the same ones? Name ten things each which you 
do, which you need, 'which give you pleasure, which give you 
pain, and then see how many of each of these are true also of a 
horse or other animals. If you were hungry or cold how would 
you get food or warmth if your hands were tied, or you were 
unable to speak and were tied to a post, or shut up in a barn? 
Describe all the different ways in which you could get relief if 
suffering when a suffering animal could not. Describe your 
feelings when you are scared, teased, nervous, anxious, cold, sick, 
tired, shut up against your will, scolded, punished unjustly, 
spoken to harshly or unkindly, and then describe an animal’s feel¬ 
ings when so treated. Describe your feelings when you are 
petted, praised, talked to kindly or given any kind of pleasure, 
and then describe an animal’s feelings when he is treated in that 
way. 

Name three ways in which you learn things. In how many 

99 


) 

i 3 


^ > > 


> ) 




ways does a horse, dog or other animal learn? Describe your 
feelings when you are punished for what you do not know or un¬ 
derstand and tell why you feel so. Describe fully the feelings of 
a horse, dog or other animal when so treated. Explain fully the 
effect on you of being punished unjustly, or being treated un¬ 
fairly. Describe the effect on an animal of being so treated. 
Describe some of the things which make a boy or a girl, a horse 
or a dog timid and cowardly. Explain why you or an animal 
would not like to be shut up or tied up. Explain why you have 
a right to enjoy yourself, and why an animal has a right to 
enjoy himself. "When have you not a right to enjoy yourself? 
Describe your feelings when you are disappointed. Describe 
the feelings of a horse or dog when he is disappointed. Give 
ten illustrations of ways in which an animal can be disappointed. 


Colts, Puppies, Kittens and Other Young Animals 

LL young animals are like babies. They are helpless and need 



to be treated kindly, petted and loved. They do not know 
anything about the world they are to live in and need to be 
taught and shown. They are friendly and good-natured and 
mean well but they do not know any better than to always do 
just what they wish to do. If they do not turn out well, or if 
they misbehave, it is because they have not been taught and 
trained, or have not been treated well and well brought up. 

Children do not know how to behave well unless they have 
been taught and trained, and ought not to be blamed for behav¬ 
ing badly, unless they have been taught how to behave well. 
It is just the same with a colt, or a puppy, or a kitten, or any 
other young animal. They need to be taught, trained and 
brought up, just like children, in order to know what they 
ought to do, and to do what they ought to do. If they learn bad 
habits, or are unruly or ill-tempered it is because they have not 
been well taught or well treated. They are not to blame. Their 




owners who did not bring them up rightly are the ones who are 
to blame. 

A very little baby cannot do much for a long time but eat, 
sleep and grow, but most young animals are not quite so helpless 
as that, or else their helplessness does not last so long as that of 
a baby. Some animals begin to learn almost as soon as they are 

born. 


What can a very little colt do that a baby cannot do? A 

puppy? A kitten? What are some of the things a baby has to 

learn? A colt, puppy or kitten? ITow do children learn good 

manners? What do you mean by being well-behaved? What 

are some of the things you have to do or be in order to be a good 

boy or girl? In order to be well-behaved? To be a bad boy or 

101 








girl? To be a badly-behaved boy or girl? What is the dif¬ 
ference between being bad and being badly behaved? Describe 
a good and bad boy and girl. Describe a good dog, horse, cat or 
other animal. What are some of the bad habits of horses, dogs, 
cats and other animals? How would you make a horse or dog 
well-behaved ? 

What would you say of anybody who tried to scare or hurt 
a baby? Of anybody who tried to hurt or scare a young animal? 
Why? Why is it mean and cowardly to hurt or scare anything 
weaker or which knows less than you do ? What is it to be mean ? 
Cowardly? Can anybod}^ who is brave and good be mean? 
Why should young animals be petted and loved? Why is it a 
brave and good thing to protect and care for anything weaker or 
which knows less than you do? Bring some stories about colts, 
calves, puppies, kittens and any other young animals you know 
about. 


Training, Teaching or Breaking Colts and Dogs 

W E SPEAK of teaching or training a baby or older child. We 
never speak of “breaking ’* a child. But people talk of 
“breaking” a colt, horse or dog as if there must be somethin" 
rough, harsh and violent about teaching them. 

The usual way of teaching or training a horse or dog is 
really “breaking” them, whipping or beating them, breaking 
their spirits, making them afraid, or being cruel and rough with 
them in other ways. It does not need to be so, and the kind 
and gentle way is far better. The men who teach and train ani¬ 
mals are very often men who are not kind, patient and gentle 
but are men who take pleasure in being rough and cruel with 
animals because they are helpless. Very often they do not know 
enough to see that the kind way is the best way. 

They are often quick-tempered and in too much of a hurrv 

102 




Instead of taking time, being patient and showing the colt, for 
example, what they want him to do, so that he understands what 
it is, and that they are not going to hurt him, they force him 
to do what they want without his understanding it. 

Generally, colts are let run and do as they like till they are 
three or four years old. We do not begin teaching them young 
enough. So when we do begin to teach a colt he does not know 
what to do or Avhere to go, he wants to have his own way and do 
as he likes as he always has done. The harness hurts him, the 
men shout and speak harshly to him, he is whipped and he does 
not know what for, but knows it hurts. He does not know what 
the shouts and harsh words are for, but they scare him. What¬ 
ever he does appears to him to be wrong. 

At last he gets nervous and bewildered, and sometimes sulky 

and sullen because he is discouraged and feels he is not being 

treated rightly, just as you have felt sometimes when you have 

felt you were not being treated justly. He feels as if whatever 

103 







he does will be wrong, that he will be whipped and hurt whether 
he deserves it or not, exactly as you have felt under similar 
treatment. 

Sometimes such unkind, unjust and cruel treatment spoils 
his disposition for all the rest of his life. Sometimes by abuse 
and bad treatment, while being “broken,” his spirit is really 
broken. That means he loses his ambition and courage and 
becomes a dull, listless and hopeless creature who lives out the 
rest of his life unhappy, dejected and cowed. 

Never forget that horses, dogs and all other animals, as far 
as they know and can know, are exactly like boys and girls in 
their feelings, exactly like you yourself. In all your dealings 
with dumb animals, young or old, think how you would feel if 
you were in their place, not able to help yourself, and they in 
yours, with power over you. Then you will know partly how 
they feel and will treat them more nearly as they ought to be 
treated. 

- * - 

"Why is it wrong to speak of “breaking” a colt? What 
would be better words? Explain fully how you would teach or 
train a baby, a colt, a kitten, a puppy. Why is it a bad thing to 
hurt or scare a young animal while you are teaching him? 
When you are teaching a colt or a dog would you whip or scold 
him if he did not understand you? Why? What would you do? 
Would you get angry or out of patience with him? Why? How 
soon do you begin teaching the baby? The colt, or the puppy? 
Why do you not wait till the baby is several years old before 
you teach him anything? Why wait till the colt is several years 
old? Which can hear the better, you or a horse? You or a dog? 
Why, then, do people shout at horses and dogs when talking to 
them ? What would be better ? Is it a good or bad thing to speak 
roughly or harshly to a baby? To a puppy? To a horse? To a 
cow? To any animal? Why in each of these cases? Explain 

fully how you would teach a colt. 

104 



Training, Teaching or “Breaking” Colts, Dogs and 

Other Animals 


W E HAVE learned that the best way to teach a colt, puppy or 
other animal is to pet, coax and encourage him in exactly 
the same way we do a baby, or an older child. If we wish him to 
learn to come or to go, we gently pull or push him, being care¬ 
ful not to hurt or scare him, but by gentle means show him what 
we want him to do. We must not discourage him by giving him 
something too hard to understand or to do, nor must we be dis¬ 
couraged if it takes a long time to teach him. If we start with 
a little colt and get him used little by little to the different 
parts of a harness, to being hitched, to drawing a little cart, to 
the words of command and so on, by the time he is grown up he 
will be a well educated horse without knowing how or when he 
came to be so. But when it is not possible to begin with him as 
a little colt the means and method should be the same. That is, 
take time, have patience, show him what you want and teach 
him little by little. 

How would you teach a colt to carry a saddle? A harness? 
To come to you? To go from you? To stop? To back? To pull 
a load ? How would you teach a dog to go ? To come ? To stop ? 
To lie down ? To sit down ? To roll over ? 

Would you talk loudly or scold them while teaching them 
these things ? Why ? If you gave an animal you were teaching 
something too hard for him to understand or to do, what would 
be the effect on him ? If you then scolded or punished him what 
would be the effect? 

When a horse gets discouraged, feels that he is not treated 
rightly and it is no use to try, what name do we give that kind of 
a horse? Whose fault is it? Ought the horse to be punished? 
Why? What would you do to cure a balky horse? Why? 

What would you do to keep a horse from becoming balky? 

105 


Could you say that a discouraged, sulky, sullen boy or girl is a 
balky boy or girl ? Explain fully how you would teach a puppy 
or dog. 


How to Understand Animals and How to Make Them 

Understand You 

E TALK with words which we join together into sentences 
and in that way say anything we want to. Animals cannot 
do that. They can utter only sounds and cries which mean certain 
things to them as much as our words and sentences mean 
certain things to us. But we 
can only guess as nearly as 
we can what the cries and 
sounds of animals mean. 

In order to understand 
what a horse or dog or other 
animal means or wants we 
have to watch him and pay 
attention to what he does and 
says the same as we do with a 
baby and then guess what he 
means and wants the same as 
we do in the baby’s case. 

When an animal finds out 
that we will pay attention to 
him when he is trying to say 
something to us and will give 
him what he wants as soon 
as we know what it is, he will 
begin to try to tell us. But 
if we pay no attention to him 
when he is trying to tell us 
something he will soon get 

10G 




“It’s enough to make a cat laugh” 













discoui aged and think it is of no use to try to tell us anything 
any more. 

Intelligent animals, especially if they have been treated 
with attention, get so they understand a great deal of what we 
say and become very clever in telling us what they want. They 
often understand us much better than we understand them. 


Imagine yourself a horse and explain how you would tell us 
when you are hungry, thirsty, tired, lame or sick. Imagine your¬ 
self a dog and explain fully how you would make it known if 
you were cold, afraid, out of breath, had the headache or tooth¬ 
ache. How would you tell that your food is bitter or sour? 
How would you get things different? Explain in how many 
ways it is harder for animals to tell what they want, or get what 
they need, than it is for you to do so. 

Imagine yourself dumb and with hoofs or paws instead of 
hands, then tied to a post or shut up in a barn, what would your 
owner’s first duty to you be? What else would be his duty 
toward you? Explain fully how to make animals understand. 
Explain fully how to understand animals. 

Liberty of Animals 

W E GET most of our happiness out of being able to go where 
we want to and do what we want to, provided it is not wrong 
or unwise. That is liberty. That is being free. No matter what 
else we may have we are not happy unless we are free. Of 
course, we ought not to do anything wrong or unwise. If we 
do not know what is wrong or unwise we should follow the ad¬ 
vice of those who do know. To be free does not mean freedom to 
do what is wrong or foolish. 

To be subject to the order of someone else without good 

107 




reason, is to be either a prisoner or a slave. There are many 
kinds of good reasons, such as obedience to our parents, to the 
law or to those who have authority over us for any good cause. 
But, generally speaking, we get our happiness out of doing what 
we want to when it is right and does no other creature any harm. 

It is very much the same with animals. Each one’s happi¬ 
ness depends very much on being allowed to do as he wants to, 
unless there is a good reason for keeping him from doing so. 
Whenever an animal shows that he wants to do something he 
should be allowed to do it, and not interfered with, unless there 
is a good reason for interference. We should not tyrannize over 
animals, “boss” them, make them do what they dislike or keep 
them from doing what they do like, unless there is a good reason 
for doing so. 


What is it to be a prisoner? A slave? To be free? How 
many kinds of animals can you think of who are either prisoners 
or slaves? What do you owe to an animal you deprive of his 
liberty? What would be a good reason for depriving an animal 
of his freedom? Imagine yourself an animal deprived of liberty 
and describe your feelings. 


10 ° 




Barnyard Pets 










What We Especially Owe to Animals Who Belong to 

Us and Serve Us 

W HENEVER it is in our power to do good to any creature we 
ought to do it, especially if the creature is not able to help 
himself. There are cases which look like exceptions to this rule 
but in reality they are not so. 

If we own an animal we ought all the more to be good to 
him. He has a right'to expect more from you as his owner than 
from a stranger. If an animal works for you or is of value or 
service to you you owe him good treatment. It is your debt to 
him. It is his wages. He earns it just as you earn money. 

If you do not pay the debt by good care of him you rob a 
helpless animal of his pay. You cannot pay him in money for he 
could not use it. All he can get for his pay is good care. If 
you do not pay him that you cheat him. It is bad and wicked 
enough to cheat anybody but it is worse and meaner and more 
cowardly to cheat a helpless dumb animal. You can never rem¬ 
edy such a wrong. You can pay back money out of which you 
have cheated someone, but you cannot make up for the comfort 
or care you withheld from an animal. The chance to give him 
that is gone with the time when you should have given it to him. 

-- 


If a strange horse came along the road and stood hungry, 
thirsty or cold at your gate, what would be your duty? Why? 
Would it make any difference if he had worked for you? If you 
owned him? If he had worked for you but was now old, weak, 
sick and worthless? Why? Does the value of an animal have 
anything to do with his right or our duty toward him? Does the 
wealth or poverty of a man or woman have anything to do with 
their rights and our duty toward them? If you found a sick 

horse or other animal without an owner what would be your duty 

no 



to him? Why? If he had an owner? Why? If you had only 
food enough for your own animals and a strange horse or dog 
or cow came and stood hungry and suffering at your gate, or if 
you knew of such an animal what would you do? Why? State 
clearly the rights of an animal from strangers. From his owner. 
Explain fully how you think you ought to treat your own 
animals. 


Wh at We Owe Animals 

W HEN any person or any animal has been placed by any act 
of ours where he suffers or where he cannot help himself, he 
has an especial right to expect us to help him out and to see that 
he does not suffer. We owe him that for being responsible for 
his misfortune. 

But it is also true that when any person or any animal is in 
need of help, whether through our fault or not, it is our duty to 
do all we can to help him. This needs some explanation. 

Since we cannot take care of all people or all animals who 
need help, we have to use good judgment and help first those 
who have the first claim on us. Persons we are related to. ani¬ 
mals we own, either persons or animals to whom we owe gratitude 
for services they have done us, promises we have made, severity 
of their need or their suffering, or some other such claim—all 
such things have to be thought of. Every case must be judged 
by itself. 

We must also consider ourselves, our own needs and our own 
importance relative to that of others. Most of us are selfish 
enough to think of ourselves first. Generally the danger is that 
we will think too much of ourselves. 

We can ourselves relieve only a very small part of the suf¬ 
fering in the world. We have to use good sense and judgment 

about what we try to relieve. When we cannot do it ourselves 

111 



or even when we can, if there is some one whose duty it is to re¬ 
lieve it, it is better and more nearly just to see that he does it than 
to do it ourselves. It is better to make the owner of a hungry 
animal, for instance, feed that animal than to do it ourselves. 
The first thing to do is to see that he is fed, and then that the 
right person does it or pays for it. The same principle is true of 
other kinds of need and suffering. 


Explain what you mean by “using good judgment and 
sense” in our efforts to relieve distress and do good. Explain 
why it is better to make people do their duty than to do for them 
what they ought to do. What do you mean by owing something? 
Can we owe things besides money ? Give examples. Why ought 
we to pay our debts? 


The Profit to be Made by Kindness to Domestic Animals 

T HE United States government in Washington knows so well 
how well it pays to treat domestic animals properly that it 
helps to support Agricultural colleges all over the United States, 
a part of whose work it is to teach the right way to take care of 
animals. The government also employs the most famous scien¬ 
tific men it can find, who have made special studies of animals, 
to write books which tell how to take care of them in the best 
way. These books are then published by the government and 
circulated over the country. 

The Department of Agriculture is one of the great divisions 
of the national government in Washington and its secretary is a 
member of the President’s cabinet. One of the most important 
parts of the Department of Agriculture is the Bureau of Animal 
Industry, which spends all its time studying animals in certain 
ways. The publications of the Bureau of Animal Industry have 




taught people the best ways to treat animals and the importance 
of being kind to them. 

The government also keeps track of how many of each kind 
of domestic animals there are in the country, how much they are 
worth and how much some of them produce. The census of 1900 
shows that there are nearly 70,000,000 head of cattle, worth over 
$1,500,000,000; nearly 25,000,000 horses and mules, worth over 
$1,200,000,000; and more than 125,000,000 sheep, hogs and goats, 
worth over $400,000,000. The 18,000,000 cows kept for milk give 
almost $500,000,000 worth every year in milk, butter and cheese. 
The numbers of these animals is growing fast all the time, and 
so is the value of what they produce and their own average value. 
There are many more of them now, and their value is much 
greater now than was the case in 1900. Next year and every 
year there will be still more. 

The value of all these animals depends on how much work 
they can do, how long they can do it and on how much they pro¬ 
duce or'are worth for food. Accordingly, the longer a horse is 
likely to live, and at the same time be well, strong and able to 
work, the more he is worth. The more or better milk a cow pro¬ 
duces the more she is worth. The heavier and larger an animal 
for beef or mutton grows the more he is worth. 

Most animals in the country are generally better treated than 
those in cities. Some kinds of work are especially hard on 
horses. They are usually put to work at from three to four 
years old. Horsemen say, that if all horses were kindly and intel¬ 
ligently treated from birth to death, properly fed, watered, shel¬ 
tered, bedded, harnessed, worked, rested, taught, doctored and oth¬ 
erwise cared for, they would on the average be as good at twenty- 
five years old as they now are at fifteen or sixteen years old. 
Dairymen say that if cow T s were treated in the same way they 
would produce from a quarter to a half more milk than they do 

now. Stockmen say that cattle so treated weigh a quarter to a 

113 


half more than they do when not so cared for and that the dif¬ 
ference in the way cattle are treated often makes one worth more 
than twice as much as another. 


From the figures given what is the average value of the 
horses and mules in this country? Suppose a horse begins 
work at four years old and stops at sixteen, what is each year of 
his working life worth? If good treatment would add a year to 
his working life what would it be worth and what would it 
amount to for all the horses and mules in this country? Two 
years? Four years? Ten years? If good treatment of cows 
would add one quarter to their milk production, what would it 
amount to for all the cows in the country for a year ? If a horse 
costs fifty cents a day to keep and earns a dollar a day for two 
hundred and fifty working days each year, how much a year 
does he earn for his owner ? If the best treatment of him possible 
would add a year of working life to his age what would be the 
owner’s gain? Two years? Five years? Ten years? In how 
many ways can you increase the value of an animal? Why can 
you not expect an animal to grow big and strong if he is not 
well cared for? 


Feeding Animals 

E VERY animal has a right to have proper food according to 
his kind. That means that he has a right to have enough 
food; to have it regularly; to have a variety; and to have what he 
likes and enjoys. 

Animals that feed on grass, hay and similar foods need to 
be fed often and in large quantities, for such food does not con¬ 
tain much nourishment and they have to eat a good deal of it. 

For this reason such animals have large stomachs and their 

114 




stomachs need to be kept filled most of the time. Meat-eating 
animals do not need to be fed so often or so much for their food 
contains concentrated nourishment. 

But all animals should have enough so they will not suf¬ 
fer from hunger. Their food should not be musty, moldy, sour, 

bitter, spoiled or unwhole¬ 
some in any w r ay, any more 
than your food should be any 
of those things. 

They do not want to eat the 
same thing all the time any 
more than you do. So they 
ought to have a variety. They 
like it better and their health 
will be better. 

They need to be fed regu¬ 
larly because it keeps them 
from hunger and is better 
for their health and strength. 
They ought also to have what they like because their appetites 
are better, their food does them more good when they like it, and 
because they have a right to enjoy what they eat, just as you 
have. 

Besides the dried grasses and grains which make the chief 
food of horses, cows, sheep and other like animals when they 
are not pasturing, they like vegetables, meal, bran and fruit. 

Dogs, cats and other carnivorous animals learn quickly to 
like cooked meat as well as raw meat, beside milk, bread and 
almost all kinds of cooked vegetables. 

Birds like seeds, fruit, fresh pieces of vegetables and a 

variety of other food. The more closely confined animals are kept, 

the more pains must be taken with their food to keep them in 

good health. When possible give animals what they like and at 

regular times, remembering that one of the regular pleasures of 

115 



Dead of starvation. Railroad tricycle with 
officer of Child and Animal Protection 
bringing hay came too late for this horse 
but saved many others 




your own life is to have a variety of things you like to eat, and 
that it is exactly the same with them. Besides, they have far 
fewer other pleasures than you have. 

If a healthy and hungry animal refuses to eat the food you 
give him, do not try by hunger to make him eat it anyway. It 
is a sure sign that he does not like it and that it is probably 
not good for him. 

Give two reasons why it would be wrong to make you eat 
moldy bread or spoiled meat. Two reasons why it would be 
wrong to give a horse moldy hay or musty grain. What would 
you do about it if you were dumb, had your hands tied and were 
then shut up with nothing to eat or drink but spoiled food and 
dirty water ? Why ought you and all other animals to have food 
regularly ? To have fresh water ? When both are hungry, which 
ought you to feed first, yourself, your horse or your dog ? Why ? 
Give three reasons why an animal belonging to you has a right 
to expect you to see that he is comfortable and happy. Three 
reasons why it is cowardly and mean to let your animals suffer 
while you are comfortable. Why ought you to have food you 
like? Why should animals have food which tastes good? Name 
all the things you can think of which you like to eat. Name all 
the things a dog, horse or cow likes to eat. 

- * -- 

Beds for Animals 

I P YOUR bed is not a comfortable one you are not rested and 
refreshed by sleep as you would be if it were a good bed. 
A good bed is dry, smooth, level and soft. A good bed for an 
animal would be a good bed for a man in these respects. 

A man can make a bed for himself, but an animal has only 
hoofs or paws, and when he is confined, as most domestic ani¬ 
mals always are, he has to lie down wherever he is kept and on 

whatever his master gives him. He cannot help himself or find 

116 



a good bed or a good place for one, but has to take what he can 
get or what is given him. Wild animals, or animals at liberty, 
can generally find and make beds for themselves. 


What are the four things necessary to make a good bed, and 
why are they necessary? Why is a good bed necessary? Name 
all the things you can think of which a horse working for you 
ought to get as part of his wages. Ought he to have them any¬ 
way, whether he works or not? Why? Why is it so cowardly 
and mean to cheat an animal out of his rights? A child? A 
woman? An old man? Name the things a bed for yourself 
ought not to be. A bed for a dog. For a horse. For a pig. 


Shelter for Animals 


LL WARM-BLOODED animals need shelter from storms and 



/A bad weather. There are almost no exceptions. In their wild 
state they find it for themselves as far as they can. In their 
tame state they need it even more, for they are not hardened 
and toughened by exposure so as to do without it. In this way 
as in most others they are like us. If they are strong, young 
and well, they do not need shelter so much: if weak, old or sick 
they need it more. If they are used to being out of doors and to 
the changes of temperature and weather they do not need shelter 
so much as they otherwise do. 

When the time for rest and sleep comes all animals instinc¬ 
tively seek shelter. Horses exposed to storms and rough weather 
while at work, especially need a sheltered place in which to rest 
and sleep. 

All animals not well sheltered require far more food than 
if warmly and comfortably kept. They not only suffer pain from 
cold, wet and wind, but these things take their strength and 


117 





flesh. A large part of the food they eat is burned up in trying 
to keep the heat of their bodies up to what life requires. So it 
takes more to keep them in good flesh when exposed to cold or 
storms. 


Describe fully your feelings and those of all other like ani¬ 
mals when cold, wet and hungry. Which needs shelter most, 
young or old animals? Sick or well ones? Explain fully why 
shelter is necessary. What should you do when one of your ani¬ 
mals is shivering? When somebody else’s animal is shivering? 
Does it pay to feed and shelter animals well? Why? W T ho is 
benefited by the good care of animals ? What effect has a cold 
wind upon you? On a horse, cow or dog? Describe a good 
shelter. 


Exercise and Play for Animals 

W HEN animals do not have to work, and in that manner get 
exercise, they should have regular and sufficient exercise to 
keep them in health and good spirits. Whether they work or not 
they ought to have freedom and a chance to play a part of the 
time exactly as people should. Neither horses nor men should 
work more than six days a w r eek. Horses and cows should be 
turned out to grass sometimes, when it is possible. Green food is 
good for them. It is the natural life of horses and cattle to be out 
of doors in the fields and woods. Lame and sick horses often get 
well with no other treatment than to be turned out in the fields 
to live on grass and in freedom. 

Exercise and play is as necessary to horses, dogs and all 
other animals as it is to ourselves. They pine and fret and lose 
their health without it, just as we do. 

If you or any other animal had to work all day and every 

day would you keep well and happy? Why? If you were kept 

118 







The dog is licking the nose of his friend, the colt, and wagging his tail 


shut up or tied up in doors all day and every day, would you 
keep well and happy? Why? If dumb animals are like us in 
animal ways, ought we to treat them like ourselves in animal 
ways. What do you mean by animal ways? Give all the ex¬ 
amples you can think of. What good does it do you to play ? A 
dog, cat or horse ? Describe the ways horses, dogs, cats and birds 
play. Find out how wild animals play and bring stories about it. 

- * - 


Watering Animals 


E VERY animal should have plenty of fresh, clean water as 

often as he wants it. Exactly like people, animals want to 

drink much more and much oftener at some times than at others. 

If possible they should have water all the time where they can 

119 










get it. If that is not possible they should be given frequent 
opportunity to drink. 

Animals not only suffer from lack of water when they need 
it, just as we do, but they also begin quickly to lose flesh and 
strength. All animals, ourselves included, lose flesh and strength 
much more rapidly from lack of water than from lack of food. 
The suffering which thirst causes is also much greater than of 
hunger. 

Water should be fresh. After it has been drawn or pumped 
it soon begins to get stale and flat and, if there are any unpleas¬ 
ant odors in the air, it takes them up and tastes of them. 
Animals like fresh, cool water, just as we do. 

- * - 

Describe your feelings and those of any other animal when 
you are thirsty. Describe the effects of thirst. How often should 
animals be given water and how can you tell when an animal is 
thirsty? If you know an animal is thirsty but he does not be¬ 
long to you, what ought you to do? Why? If you are thirsty 
and your horse, dog or cow is, too, which ought to drink first? 
Why? What kind of drinking water do you like best? What 
kind does any animal like best? 

- * - 

Keeping Animals Clean 

A LMOST all animals like to keep clean. In their natural state 
animals keep themselves clean. They are washed by the rain, 
bathe in streams and pools, are blown upon by the wind, roll on 
the grass or in the dust and rub themselves against the trees. 

When they are in our hands, kept as a kind of prisoners and 
not free to do many of the things natural to them and which 
they would like to do, we must see to it that they are kept clean 
for they cannot help themselves. 

They ought to have clean, dry places to stand in and a clean, 

120 




dry bed to sleep on. Horses, especially, should be curried and 
brushed. If they are kept in stables in warm weather, they 
should be 'washed and dried besides being curried and brushed. 
If washed in cold weather there is danger of their taking cold. 
If they are not kept clean it affects their health and spirits. 

On a horse’s skin, under the hair, the matter thrown off by 
his pores in sweating accumulates. Dirt and dust also settle and 
collect in the hair. These things make him itch and feel uncom¬ 
fortable, the more so if he works hard and sweats much. That is 
the reason he rolls when he has a chance, shakes himself, twitches 
his skin and scratches himself by rubbing against posts, fences 
and the sides of his stall. It gives him great relief and pleasure 
to have these accumulations removed by currying, brushing and 
washing. Some horsemen go so far as to say that a good currying 
is as good for a horse as a feed of oats. 

Dogs do not sweat through their skins like horses but they 
enjoy being combed, washed, brushed and cleaned. It is the same 
with most other animals. Cats, however, do not like to be wet. 
They have their own way of keeping clean. 


Why do you take a bath, wash your face and hands and 
comb or brush your hair? If you had only hoofs or paws and 
were kept tied or shut up how would you keep clean? Imagine 
yourself as helpless as a horse, dog or other animal is to keep 
himself clean, then describe your feelings and what you would 
do in such a situation. Why not wash an animal in cold 
weather? Why keep animals clean? 


A Horse’s Saddle 


A HORSE’S saddle should be neither too wide nor too narrow. 

It should fit the horse’s back just as every part of a horse’s 
harness should fit him. If it is too narrow it will make tender 





and exceedingly sore spots on the ribs where it rests. If too wide 
it will make a sore on the backbone where it rests. The saddle 
blankets should be thick and soft, should be kept clean and dry 

and should be carefully looked after from time to time to see 
that they do not slip. The girths should be broad and soft but 
firm and tightly drawn so the saddle will not slip but they should 
not be too tight so as to distress the horse. If a horse is to stand 
for some time without being ridden it is a great relief to him to 
have the girths loosened or, better yet, to have the saddle taken 
off altogether. Watch your saddle and horse all the time. 


Why should the saddle fit the horse’s back and the blankets 
be thick, soft and dry? Why should a horse’s girths be 
broad, soft, firm and tight? Imagine yourself a horse with a 
saddle hurting you and being ridden, then describe your feelings 
and what you would do. Imagine yourself as in the last ques¬ 
tion but with an iron bit in your mouth, your rider jerking you 
by the bit and whipping you, then describe your feelings and 
what you would do. Draw a picture of a horse being ridden and 
treated properly and of one being abused while being ridden. 
In what ways must you watch and pay attention to your riding 
horse to keep him comfortable ? 

A 


The Horse’s Bits 

T HE BITS and reins are the means by which a horse is con¬ 
trolled. Various kinds are used, some of them very painful 
and cruel. The object should always be only to control the horse, 
and never to hurt his mouth unnecessarily. Many horses are 
spoiled by the ignorant and cruel use of bits, besides suffering 
great and wanton pain. .A horse when being hurt cannot con¬ 
trol himself. The memory of being hurt lasts long with him, 

122 




together with the memory of the thing which hurt him. 

The hits should be washed and kept clean and smooth. Metal 
bands and ornaments, especially if brightly polished, should be 
kept off the bridle. They grow hot in the sunshine and very 
often reflect the bright light into the horse’s eyes and almost 
blind him. In this you must remember that he cannot tell you 
about it—you must watch and observe him all the time lest he 
be in pain from some cause and you not know it. 

A horse’s mouth is soft and tender. Keep it so. Use it 
gently. Always be gentle. Be firm if necessary but always 
gentle. Never jerk a horse. If necessary to control him when a 
steady pull will not do so, saw firmly and steadily on the reins 
but ne^er jerk them. Remember that the reins and bits are to 
guide and stop the horse and for nothing else. For that reason 
never jerk the reins when you wish the horse to go. Some peo¬ 
ple are continually doing this. Always tell your horse to stop 
before you pull the reins and then pull them with a steady pull 
instead of a jerk. 

Never hurt your horse or any other animal when it can be 
helped. Never use force and haste when time and gentleness are 
possible. Most animals are more sensitive than you are. They 
feel, hear, see and smell better than you do. Accordingly, they 
often suffer more. 

Most people do not realize this any more than they realize 
that animals have feelings to be hurt. It is the general but mis¬ 
taken belief that animals are not nearly as sensitive to pain as 
we are. In the same way, very few people know that they are 
sensitive to harsh language and unjust treatment and that their 
feelings are hurt by it in somewhat the same way ours are. 


Imagine yourself a horse and describe fully how you would 
like to be harnessed and driven. What kind of feed would you 
give a horse with a sore mouth ? Describe the kind of bits and 




FARM PETS 



Courtesy of W. L. Miller, Sedgwick, Colo, 























the way to use them that you would want, if you were a horse. 
Describe your feelings if you were a horse, feeling good and anx¬ 
ious to go fast, if your driver jerked you and struck you with the 
whip. 

- ►>-- 

The Ho rse’s Shoes 

F EW THINGS cause a horse more distress than neglected feet. 

Every time a lame horse puts his foot on the ground he suf¬ 
fers, sometimes acutely. If two feet or more are lame at once, so 
much the worse. ITe suffers doubly and cannot show by his walk 
how he suffers. 

If a horse shows signs of lameness, find out the cause if 
possible without delay. If you cannot tell what it is yourself 
go to a good horseshoer, not merely a blacksmith who may know 
little or nothing about horseshoeing and horses’ feet, but to a 
horse-shoer. If he cannot tell what the matter is, go to a veter¬ 
inary surgeon. 

Great skill, study, experience and a thorough knowledge of 
a horse’s feet and legs are necessary to enable a man to shoe a 
horse properly. A shoe is an unnatural thing for a horse to 
wear. Being made of iron it is unyielding and prevents the foot 
from springing and expanding as it was meant to do under pres¬ 
sure and in use, verv much as our feet do when we walk or run. 

The ailments and injuries of a horse’s foot are so many 
they cannot be described here. Corns or sore spots caused by 
bruises are the most common and are very hard to cure. About 
all that can be said here is that the horse’s feet should be 
watched constantly and on the least sign of lameness he should 
be relieved from work until he is cured. Remember that he can¬ 
not tell you how much or how he suffers. All he can do is to 
limp and hold his foot up. Treat him as you would want to be 
treated yourself if you were in his place. 

- * - 

125 




Describe fully what would bfe the effect on you, if you had 
to walk with a grain of sand or gravel in your shoe ? In shoes 
too tight? If your horse went lame what would you do? 
Observe lame horses, find the cause and remedy and bring an 
account to school. Describe a good shoe. 


The Horse’s Collar 

T HE horse's collar is the place where the greatest pressure 
comes when he is pulling. It should be neither too large nor 
too small, and where it touches his shoulders or neck it should 
be perfectly smooth and fit perfectly. If there is one place 
under the collar where the pressure is greater than it should be 
there a sore spot forms. 

The constant rubbing and twisting under pressure as the 
horse steps forward with first one foot and then with the other, 
especially in hot weather when the horse sweats, is almost cer¬ 
tain to make his shoulders sore unless the collar fits perfectly 
and unless its bearing surface is kept clean and smooth. The 
same thing is true of the top of his neck where the collar rests. 
Every night after the horse's work is done in hot weather his 
shoulders and neck should be washed with cold water. This 
washes out the dust and dirt and toughens his shoulders and 
neck. The collar should be washed clean and smooth at the 
same time. If this is carefully and regularly done there will 
seldom be sore spots on his shoulders or neck. 

Whenever there is a sore spot under any part of the harness 

it should be padded all round, if the harness bears on it, leaving 

a hole where the sore is so there will be no pressure on it and the 

sore can get well. If the collar is padded in this way or to make 

it softer, both sides should be padded alike or the stram will 

come more on one shoulder than on the other. Too much pains 

126 



cannot be taken to make collars fit and then to keep them clem 
and smooth. 


Describe a perfect horse collar and give reasons. Describe 
a perfect harness and give reasons. What would happen to your 
hands if you had to carry weights all day with rough handles 
or with handles which did not fit your hands? How would 
you pad a sore under a horse’s collar? Under the back-band? 
On the top of the horse’s neck? How would you pad a sore on 
your shoulder under your suspender ? On your foot under your 
shoe? Describe a good collar. 

- * - 

Blinders 

B LINDERS are flaps of leather put on the sides of the bridle 
alongside the eyes to keep the horse from looking sideways or 
backwards and to keep his eyes and attention on the road in 
front. They should be used with great discretion. Some horses 
ought not to be driven with them at all; others can with diffi¬ 
culty be driven without them. Each case should be decided by 
itself because horses differ from each other just as people differ 
from each other. 

Almost every question relating to the care of a horse should 
be determined carefully according to the nature of the particu¬ 
lar horse. If the use of blinders makes a horse nervous, timid, 
unsteady and afraid they should not be used on that horse. They 
should not be used merely for the sake of improving his looks in 
harness. Unless there is a clear benefit to be gained they should 
be avoided. When blinders are used they should be put on care¬ 
fully so as to stand out away from the eye an inch or two, and 
never allowed to hug the eye close or to get loose and flap. 


127 






Why should each horse be studied and treated by himself? 
Draw pictures of horses with blinders properly and improperly 
worn. Explain use of blinders and when to use them. 


Check-Reins 

A CHECK-RE IN should never be used except when its use is 
necessary to proper control of your horse. If he does not 
need it leave it off. It should never be so used as to cause pain, 
annoyance or vexation to him. If it does not really hurt him it 
may still be irksome because he cannot move his head and neck 
freely. 

Vexation and annoyance use up an animal’s strength and 

spoil his temper just as they would with you. Avoid causing 

128 






them to any animal. Make all animals as comfortable as you 
can. They will not be any too comfortable at best. 

Always take the check-rein off as soon as yon stop. Never 
check your horse up merely to make him look “stylish.” It 
does not make him look spirited or stylish, but unnatural and 
uncomfortable. The strained and stiff position it forces him to 
take destroys the natural, graceful curves and motions of the 
neck. Anything which makes your horse uncomfortable and* 
unhappy diminishes his beauty. 

Anything which makes him uncomfortable also diminishes 
his strength. A draught horse should never be checked. It 
makes it impossible for him to get his head down into the posi¬ 
tion where he can lean forward so as to best exert his strength. 
He cannot pull so heavy a load and is more quickly tired by 
a lighter one. 

When you check a horse it is for your pleasure, not his. If 
you are driving for pleasure make it pleasant for your horse, also. 
Give as much thought and care to your horse’s check-rein as you 
would if you had to wear it yourself. If you do that the chances 
are that you will leave it off altogether. Consider your horse’s 
helpless misery if left checked even a short time, the sun often 
glaring in his eyes, the pain in his mouth, eyes, head and in the 
muscles of his neck and back, and growing worse the longer they 
last. 


What is the proper use of a check-rein? The improper use 
of it and the results? Explain fully how to use a check-rein. 
Explain fully the suffering and injury caused by tight check- 
reins. Describe the right kind of check-rein. 


120 




THE RIGHT WAY 

Comfortable check rein. Does not Kurt or annoy the horse at all 


Harnessing the Horse 

1 'HE horse does his work with his harness. It should, there¬ 
fore, fit him and he neither too loose nor too tight, otherwise 
it will be come uncomfortable or even painful and cause sores and 
lameness. ’Whenever a horse is suffering discomfort, much more 
if he is suffering pain, it is using up his strength and wearing 
him out. 

The harness should be kept smooth, soft and clean. If. in 

130 








































tense pain. What do you think of his owner? Checking like this is against the law 

spite of all care to prevent it, sores or tender places come, shift 
the harness and fasten so it will not bear upon the sore or 
tender place, or pad it so as to get the same result. 

- * - 

If you have a sore place on your foot or some other place 

how do you protect and relieve it? Why does pain tire you, a 

horse or other animal? How do you relieve pain in yourself or 

an animal? Describe the proper harnessing of a horse. 

131 



































ft***} 

> / / / 

ni a / 




{*"/ y'w^/'*!''■•'''{ i 

\ * / ' /./ I / it 


Jj ',>\\V/ £a ji 


i w'-,W4 'O, € 




THE RIGHT WAY 


This is the way to blanket a horse if you have to hitch him in a storm 


Blanketing the Horse 


W HEN an animal is tied or confined so he cannot move about 
in cold weather or when a cold wind is blowing or when it 
is wet and snowy, he quickly becomes cold and begins to shiver 
exactly as you would do. His blood does not circulate fast 
enough to keep him warm without exercise any more than yours 
would. Consequently he needs a blanket or some other protec¬ 
tion just as you would need an overcoat under the same 
circumstances. 

It is very cruel and injurious to a horse or other animal to 

132 















let him get so cold he shivers. lie suffers when he shivers just 
as you would. If he is old or sick or poor he will suffer more 
and from a less degree of cold than if he were young, fat and 
well, just as people do under the same circumstances. 

A horse’s blanket should be thick enough to keep him warm 
and dry, should be large, fastened at the throat and tucked down 
at the sides. If he has to w r ork in wet or snowy weather he is 
much more comfortable if an oilcloth or canvas cover is put over 
him and his harness. It keeps him dry and comfortable and 
protects the harness also. The warmer and more comfortable a 
horse or other animal is kept the less he needs to eat, just as in 
your own case. 

--. 

How do you and other animals keep warm outdoors in cold 
weather? Why? Imagine yourself a horse shivering and cold 
but tied or shut up and describe your feelings. Describe fully 
your duty to your horse when suffering from wet, cold or snowy 
weather. Describe fully your duty to other animals than your 
own when they are suffering from cold or bad weather. Tell 
how and when to blanket a horse. 


Stabling the Horse 

A HORSE’S stable is his home just as your house is your 
home. It should, therefore, be made as comfortable as pos¬ 
sible. It should be dry, light and airy, and neither too cold nor 
too warm. His stall should be wide and roomy with level floor or 
sloping slightly from front to back. A box stall is better than 
one in which he has to be tied. Remember that he is a prisoner 
in his stable and the more comfortable you make him the 
happier he will be. 

He would rather not be in his stable all the time. It is better 

to take him out for exercise regularly. When he comes home 

133 




tired from work he should be cleaned and have a good meal and 
a good bed exactly as you should when you are tired from work. 

- * - 

"What is your home and why? Imagine yourself a horse and 
describe fully what kind of stable and stall you would want and 
need. 


Whips and Spurs 

A WHIP is sometimes to be used in dealing with animals but 
only a little, only when necessary and then with the great¬ 
est good judgment. A spirited and well-treated horse will do bet¬ 
ter without a whip at all. Its use is likely to spoil the disposition 
of such a horse and make him sullen or flighty. Sometimes a 
lazy horse will make a greater effort if he is switched a little at 
the time he is being urged, but he should not be hurt more than 
that. Never use a heavy whip. It bruises and injures, inflicts 
cowardly cruelty and breaks the horse’s spirit. Nothing more 
than a temporary smart or sting should be caused by any whip. 

Sometimes a sudden shock or fright will cause a horse to 
shy, back or jump sideways to the danger of the animal, his 
driver and others. At such a time a sharp command and a quick, 
sharp stroke of the whip will often save both the horse and his 
driver. 

Never strike a horse with a whip without first speaking to 

him so he will know what you want him to do. Nothing is more 

stupid as well as cruel than to strike a horse with a whip without 

any notice to him and without his knowing what you want him 

to do. He had no way of knowing what you w T anted, and is 

startled and hurt without knowing at all what it was for. Every 

time you frighten or hurt your horse unnecessarily you not only 

treat him unjustly and cruelly, but you diminish his strength 

just as vours would be diminished by fear and pain. 

134 






Horses are docked for the sake of “style.” When they get old they are sold and very often 
get down to feeding in alleys and vacant lots, like this horse, with no tail to keep the flies 
away. What do you think of the man who docked him? 


Whenever a horse is afraid of something he sees, hears or 
smells and then you strike him with the whip, he puts the stroke 
and the thing he was afraid of together in his mind andvis apt 
to think it was the thing he was afraid of which hurt him. 
Thenceforth he will he afraid of it, for he will always be 
expecting another blow from it. 

If a horse is afraid never punish him for being so. He 
cannot help it. As well punish a child for being in fear. Gently - 
but firmly and quietly, do whatever is necessary to show him the 
thing he was afraid of will not hurt him and is not to be feared. 
Then his fear will vanish. 

Never in anger strike a horse or other dumb animal. If 

you observe this rule you will seldom strike them at all. The 

same rule applies to all cases. Never strike an animal so hard 

135 








or with such a whip as to leave a welt, nor spur him so as to 
bruise or draw blood. Horses and other animals very seldom 
need punishment, and then it should be only for correction as 
with children, and never as a means of gratifying passion. 

Whatever animals do wrong it is almost always from 
ignorance, fear or heedlessness. As far as their natures go, horses 
and other animals are like ourselves. They do not understand 
wrong doing as we do, of course, and are not to be blamed as 
we ought to be for doing what we know to be wrong. 

Horses, just like dogs and other animals, have sensitive feel¬ 
ings, only they cannot complain when they feel hurt as we can. 
So it happens that a great many people do not understand that 
they have feelings like our own. Their pride and their feelings 
are often hurt by harsh and abusive language, and still more by 
a blow, just as yours would be. 

The most successful handlers of horses, cattle, dogs and all 
animals, are those who treat them with kindness, the kinder the 
more successful. Some of the greatest horse-raisers discharge 
an employe at once if he swears at a horse. In some dairies a 
man who speaks loudly is discharged. 

Always treat horses and other animals like children. Make 
them friends and companions, not slaves and prisoners. Make 
them love and not fear you. Make them consider you their best 
friend. The nearer you treat them like children, the more at¬ 
tention and kindness you show them, the more intelligent and 
kind they will be, the more they will do for you and the longer 
they will live. Also, and very important, the happier they will 
be and the happier you will be. 

- * - 

Describe your feelings if someone in authority over you 
wanted you to do something, did not tell you what it was but 
struck you instead. What animals are treated in that way? Is 

it right to strike anybody or any animal in anger ? Why ? What 

136 




Horse Eating Out of Hand of Child 

Courtesy of W. L. Miller, Sedgwick. Colo. 

is sought by striking a blow ? How would you overcome an ani- 
mal’s fear? Why has an animal a right to be happy? Why 
make animals your friends? Give all the reasons you can think 
of. Tell how animals should be treated in general. 


Driving 

I N DRIVING, remember that the reins and your voice are the 
two means of letting your horse know what you want him to 
do. Never jerk the reins. They are for guiding and stopping him. 
The reins should be held and drawn firmly, steadily and gently 
When you jerk them you startle and confuse your horse, hurt 
his mouth cruelly sometimes, and make him afraid and uncertain 
of what you want. If your horse threatens to become unmanage- 








able and is hard to hold, “saw” on the bits, but with a steady 
motion, not with jerks. 

Don’t trot your horse down hill or up. It is very hard on 
his forelegs to trot him down hill and very exhausting to trot 
him up hill. Running him down hill or up is, of course, worse 
than trotting him. 

Don’t push him beyond his natural speed for it exhausts him 
quickly. A horse, like you, has just so much energy, strength 
and endurance. You can exhaust it all in five minutes, or in 
running him a mile, so that he will not be able to do much more 
that day. Ybu can even kill him, or ruin him for life, in a few 
minutes’ over-driving. 

You can work him all day long and travel many miles, and 
at the day’s end, he will still be strong and able to go further 
although tired. Great effort beyond his strength or speed not 
only exhausts him quickly but is apt to do him permanent 
injury. 

Look out for stones and obstructions in the road. See that 
he himself has good footing, and that the wheels strike as few 
stones as possible. Every time the wheels strike even small stones 
it jerks the horse and tires him fast. Look out for poor bridges. 

If your horse does not travel well he is probably sick. Watch 
him carefully and do not urge him too much. An apparently 
small illness of a horse on the road often results in his death in 
a short time, if he is driven. Watch him carefully for lame¬ 
ness. It may be caused by a pebble in his foot, or some other 
equally easily cured thing, which will cause him intense pain and 
long lameness if neglected even for a little while. Don’t con¬ 
tinue to drive him when he goes lame. 

Watch his harness. See that it is sound, that it fits him 
well and that he is comfortable in it. Don’t check him so high 
that he will be uncomfortable, much less in pain. He doesn’t, 
look well, travel well or feel well, if he is cheeked so high as to 
be uncomfortable. 


138 


Remember all the time that he cannot talk, that he must de¬ 
pend on you to see that he is not uncomfortable in the harness 
you put on him; also that he must depend upon your judgment 
while doing the task you set for him, in the place where you put 
him and in your service. Treat him as you would like to be 
treated. Keep in mind what you would probably want if he were 
the driver and you the horse. Go slow in sand or mud. Make 
him feel all the time that it is his best friend who is driving 
him, for whom he is working, and that you are watching him 
to see that if he needs anything he shall get it. He will learn 
to let you know when he wants anything if he knows you will 
pay attention when he tries to tell you. 

- * - 

How should you hold the reins when driving? Give three 
reasons why it is wrong and foolish to jerk a horse. What is 
the difference between a horse tired and a horse exhausted? 
Imagine yourself a horse under saddle and describe fully what 
you would like to have your rider keep in mind for you. Im¬ 
agine yourself a horse working in harness, and do the same. 
Why does a horse keep turning his neck from side to side when 
he is checked too high? Why bend his back and stretch out his 
hind feet when checked too high? Describe all the ways in 
which you would suffer if you were a horse checked too high. 
What is the best way to understand how other animals and peo¬ 
ple feel when in pain or trouble? Imagine yourself a horse 
overdriven, driven when lame, sick, sore, tired, exhausted, 
hungry and thirsty and in each case describe fully how you 
would feel and what you would want done for you. Tell how 
to drive a horse. 


139 



Hitching 

WO THINGS especially should be remembered in hitching a 
horse; to tie him securely so he will not get away and to make 
sure he will be comfortable while hitched. If he gets loose he 
is apt to run away and do great damage to himself and others. 
A horse which has once got loose and run away is apt to do so 
again whenever he has a chance. 

Remember to tie him neither too low nor too high to be 
comfortable, nor too short. If tying him to an upright post be 
sure to tie him so the strap will not slip down and hold his head 
down, or get so low he can put his foot over it. Tie him so he 
will not have to face the sun, wind, rain or snow. Unfasten his 
check-rein, if he has one, so he can move his head freely about. 
The more comfortable he is the more quietly he will stand. 

- * - 




Imagine yourself a horse and then describe fully how you 
would like to be tied under all the conditions you can think of. 


The Horse’s Tail 

T HE HORSE’S tail was given him chiefly for his protection 
from flies, gnats, mosquitoes and other insects. It is also one 
of his chief beauties. Any cutting or shortening of it when in¬ 
sect pests are active so as to prevent him from using it to protect 
himself is most cruel and injurious. This is true at such a time 
of merely cutting the hair of the tail short. 

If this is so, it is plain that the cutting off of the bone and 
flesh at the end of the tail, which is called docking, is one of 
the most cruel and inhuman injuries which can be inflicted on 
a horse. The operation is itself very painful and it deprives 

the horse of the protection of his tail for all his lifetime. None 

140 





Horse being eaten up by flies. Docked by his owner. 
Almost crazed. What do you think of his owner? 


Has no tail to keep the flies off. 
Docking is against the law 


but the most careless and heartless will inflict this injury on a 
horse. 

It is favored by lazy grooms who are thus spared the care 
of the horse’s tail, by foolish people who think it gives a smart 
and jaunty appearance to a horse and by vain people who want 
horses different from those of their poorer neighbors. In reality 
it spoils his appearance and often his disposition. He seldom 
forgets the pain of the operation and in fly time he is helpless 
against their attacks. Horses that have been docked are apt to 
be nervous, irritable and uncertain. Sometimes they are so un¬ 
strung by it that they are dangerous to drive. There is never 












any excuse for docking except as a surgical operation when the 
tail has become diseased, which excuse happens rarely. It is pro¬ 
hibited in the armies of Great Britain and the United States, 
and even the use of a docked horse is forbidden by law in some 
states. The operation of docking a horse is made a crime in most 
states. 

Nicking is a criminal offense, also, and consists in cutting 
the tendons on the under side of a horse’s tail and keeping them 
from ever reuniting. It forces the horse to always carry his tail 
raised in an appearance of high spirits. It is very painful and 
like docking is a cruel and cowardly injury. All mutilation of 
. the flesh of animals is to be avoided unless justified by actual 
necessity. 


Why is it made a crime to dock or nick a horse? Is the 
man who hires or pays another to commit a crime also a crimi¬ 
nal? Why? If a man hired another to dock or nick a horse, 
would he be a criminal because he hired the other man to do so? 
Is the infliction of necessary pain justifiable ? Define necessary. 
Give illustrations. Imagine yourself a docked horse and de¬ 
scribe your feelings in being docked, and in fly time afterwards. 
Draw a picture of a docked horse and of one not docked. What 
do you think of people who drive docked horses? 

- * - 

Skin, Hair, Feet and Teeth of the Horse 

W HEN a horse is healthy and in good condition his skin is soft 
and pliable and his hair, when brushed, smooth and shining. 
A horse’s coat generally shows at once when he is out of health. 
It begins to lose color, to get rough and dry, and to lose its gloss. 
It is a sure indicator of his condition, and when it does not look 

right his health should be attended to at once. 

142 




Care should also be paid continually to the feet and teeth 
of the horse. They sometimes suffer from decayed teeth and 
from toothache exactly as we do, only they cannot tell us what 
the matter is, nor how they suffer—we have to watch them to 
find out the cause. As old age approaches their front teeth 
sometimes wear down so they cannot bite grass, or they drop 
out altogether or, on the other hand, grow so long the grinders 
will not meet and hence they cannot chew their food. The 
grinders of all horses, as age comes on, grow long or wear into 
irregular surfaces so they do not meet properly to grind their 
food. When in this condition they have to bolt their food with¬ 
out chewing and the result is the same as it is with us when we 
bolt our food without chewing. They do not get the nourish¬ 
ment out of it, and their stomachs soon become out of order. No 
matter how much they eat in this condition, they grow poorer 
and poorer, starving slowly to death because they cannot eat 
properly. It is then necessary to have their teeth filed down 
to a regular surface by a veterinarian who has the necessary tools 
and who knows how to use them. Horses sometimes have other 
diseases of the mouth, just as we do, which make their mouths 
so sore they cannot eat. They must be watched and whenever 
it is necessary fed soft food till they can eat again. 

Probably no one thing causes the average horse so much pam 

as neglect of his feet. To a sore or lame-footed horse every step 

is painful. A horse’s foot is a very delicate and wonderful 

thing. It bears enormous weights and is used very hard. They 

need to be very carefully watched to see that they are shod often 

enough and by competent horseshoers, for not every blacksmith 

is able to shoe a horse properly. They have to be watched to see 

that they do not suffer from corns, which are caused by bruises 

and are exceedingly painful and difficult to cure, to see that 

their hoofs do not crack, to see that little stones do not get into 

the frog of the foot and cause bruises and lameness, and that 

many other injuries do not occur. Nails are often stepped on 

143 


and make very painful and sometimes dangerous wounds from 

which lockjaw and blood poisoning result. Remember the horse 

cannot tell what the matter 

is—you have to watch and 

act for him. 

- * - 

When your teeth ache or 
are decayed what do you do? 
What would you do if you 
were a horse ? Imagine your¬ 
self a horse and state fully 
what you would want done if 
your shoes hurt you, if you 
had a nail in your foot, if 
you had a pebble in your 
shoe, if you had cracks in 

Out in the storm, freezing. Owner in a warm hoofs, if yOU liad COmS. Why 
house. What do you think of him? 

cannot all blacksmiths shoe 
horses properly? Why do you have to watch animals you are 
using? Describe fully how you would care for the skin, hair,, 
teeth and feet of a horse. 

A 

V- 



Sick, Sore and Lame Horses 

* 

A NY UNUSUAL behavior by a dumb animal has a good reason. 

In his dumb way, the only way he has, he will show you 
if you watch him, that he is not well, that his foot, leg or shoul¬ 
der hurts him; that he is in pain somewhere, that he feels sick 
or weak, or that he wants something. You must watch him and 
try to find out what he wants, and then try to help him get it. 
He will find out after a while that you understand him and will 
try in other ways to let you know what he wants and needs. If 

you do not pay any attention or do not try to help him, he will 

144 






not keep on trying to tell yon nor learn by trying how to tell 
you better. Not many tilings are more touching than the confi¬ 
dence and hopeful eagerness of a well-treated animal to tell his 
owner or friends what he wants, when sure they will help him 

get it. 


Find out and give all the ways in which an animal shows 
you that he is sick, sore, lame or in pain, and where. Imagine 
yourself a sick horse and describe your feelings toward your 
owner if he made you w T ork and whipped you. Why has your 
horse a right to be doctored and nursed by you when he is sick? 
What right from you has a horse belonging to somebody else 
when he is sick? Why? Tell how you would want to be treated 
if you were sick, sore or lame. 

- * - 

Fat and Lean Animals 

G ENERALLY speaking, it can be depended on that a £st ani¬ 
mal is in good health, well fed, watered and cared for. Lack 
of water will cause an animal to lose flesh much more rapidly 
than lack of food, and is the cause of much greater suffering. 
Pain makes an animal poor. Fear and anxiety have the same 
effect. A horse in constant pain will not stay fat. A horse in 
constant fear will grow poor. Poor teeth or sickness makes an 
animal lose flesh. Overwork does the same thing. 

Whatever the cause may be, when an animal is poor it indi¬ 
cates some of the foregoing causes. When an animal is poor it 
is the duty and also self-interest of the owner to find out the 
cause and remove it. In order to be in good working condi¬ 
tion it is not necessary that an animal be heavy with fat, but 
there should be no wasting of the muscles. As soon as that 
begins, starvation begins. 


— * 

145 





If your horse is poor and stays that way, how many causes 

might there be for it? What would you do first if you saw 

% • 

your dog, cat, cow or horse getting poor? What would you do 
next? 


Sand, Mud, Snow, Ice 

I N SAND, snow or mud it is much harder for an animal to draw 
a load, partly because it is harder to get a footing in the 
soft material and partly because it offers resistance to the wheels 
which sink into it. In sandy, snowy or muddy roads the load 
should be lighter, the pace slower and the distance less. On ice 
or snow the horse must be shod sharp or he will slip or fall and 
strain himself. It exhausts an animal very quickly to have to 
try to keep his footing on a slippery surface when his shoes are 
not sharp. If he has to draw a load besides it becomes much 
harder. 

-- * - 

Explain why you get tired so quickly when walking in sand, 
mud, snow or a newly-ploughed field. Imagine yourself a horse 
being driven with a load on a soft road and state fully what 
you would like to say to your driver about the way you should 
be driven. Imagine yourself a horse smooth shod on a slippery 
road, what would you say? 


Heat, Cold, Wind, Rain, Snow, Sunshine 

A NIMALS are sensitive to all these things in the same way you 

are. Sunshine is necessary to the health of most domestic 

animals, and most others. If kept confined all the time indoors 

their health fails, their spirits droop and they become unhappy. 

Extreme heat depresses and exhausts them. Cold to a certain 

degree stimulates them, beyond that it chills, weakens and causes 

146 





them pain. What the point is at which heat, cold or other con¬ 
ditions cause an animal suffering and injury differs with every 
animal; it will depend upon his age, his health or sickness, his 
natural hardihood or weakness, and whether he is well fed or 
poor, exactly as it would with you. 

Every animal must be considered and treated separately, 
as far as possible. Bodily comfort for both animals and men 



Sawmill Horses Grazing on the Prairie 

is a thing to be sought for, as far as may be. A cold wind 
chills. Cold rain chills and weakens. Snow falling on the 
back and lying or melting there is sure to chill. Bodily com¬ 
fort, as a rule, is the test of what is good for men and animals 
alike, but especially for animals. 

- - * - 

Imagine yourself a cold, wet or hungry horse, cow, dog or 
cat and describe fully your feelings. Write it all out. Imag¬ 
ine yourself a horse tied to a post, a cat outdoors on the win¬ 
dow sill, a dog at the door, a cow in her stall, all cold, wet and 
hungry, and describe fully your feelings and thoughts. If you 

were eating a good dinner in a warm, pleasant place, or going 

147 





to sleep in a warm bed, and you learned all at once of an ani¬ 
mal cold, wet and hungry outside, what ought you to do ? Ex¬ 
plain fully how you would want to be treated in heat, cold, 
wind, rain and sun if you were a horse. 

^ _ 

W 

Starting, Going and Stopping 

W HEN you want your horse to start speak to him and tell him 
so. That is the only proper way for him to find out you 
want him to go. Never strike him to start him. A blow, even a 
light one which does not cause him any pain, startles him when 
given without warning and makes him afraid and uncertain. 

If he has a load start him slowly so as not to strain and 
jerk him. When he is going watch him to see that he does not 
go too fast for his own good, get too tired, go lame or get over¬ 
heated. Watch the road so as to give him the benefit of it at its 
best. Avoid stones and sticks which jerk him, slow up a little 
when the ground rises or falls away or when the road is not good 
for any reason. Remember that driving a horse is a very differ¬ 
ent thing from letting him haul you around. In driving him 
you add your intelligence and experience to his. It takes good 
sense, kind feeling and constant attention to drive a horse 
properly. 

Similarly, when you want him to stop tell him so. Never 
jerk him to stop him any more than you would strike him to 
start him. He does not know you want him to stop till you have 
said so. Stop him slowly so as not to jar or jerk him. Remem¬ 
ber always how you would like to be started, driven and stopped 
by him if you and he were to change places. 

- * - 

Would you treat a hired horse differently from your own? 
Why? Imagine yourself a horse and describe fully how you 

would like to be started, driven and stopped. 

148 





Fear and Its Control 

I N CONTROLLING a frightened animal, it is almost necessary 
that yon have his confidence. When he is afraid it is almost 
always of something he does not understand. If he has confi¬ 
dence in you, he is apt to rely on you in such a case. The surest 
way to gain his confidence is to get acquainted with him and 
make him acquainted with you. 

Talk to him. Make him your friend and make him under¬ 
stand vou are his friend, who will see that he is not hurt. The 
more you talk to animals the quicker they are to learn that 
what you say means something. They begin to take an interest 
then in knowing what you mean. 

Never punish an animal because he is afraid. The only wav 
to cure an animal of his fear is to show him there was nothing 
to be afraid of. If you punish him w T hen he is afraid he may 
obey you, but it is because he is more afraid of you than of the 
object of his fear. That is not only cruel but stupid. 


Imagine yourself a horse that is afraid, and describe fully 
how you would want to be treated. The same with yourself in 
the place of a frightened dog or cat. Explain fully how you 
would deal with a frightened horse. A frightened child. 

- * - 


Ambitious, Spirited and Fretting Animals 

A NIMALS differ from each other in disposition and intelli¬ 
gence just as they do in their looks, and just as men, women, 
boys and girls differ from each other. They are all different. 

Some horses, for instance, are ambitious, spirited and eager 
to go or to do. Others are sluggish, lazy or stupid. Neither kind 
of horse can help being just what he is. The slow, lazy or stupid 

borse cannot help being that way any more than the heavy, big* 

149 




boned and big-bodied cart horse can help not being a racer. The 

spirited, nervous and high-strung horse cannot help being so, for 
he was made that way. 

Owners, drivers and all persons having to handle animals 
should take each one by himself, study him and give him the 
kind of work, care and treatment best suited to him. 

The spirited and ambitious animal will run or work himself 
to his injury, and often to his death, if he is allowed to. He will 
fret and worry if held back or hitched up with a slower or duller 
horse. 

Never punish him for fretting. It is the same as punishing 
him for the noble qualities of eagerness and ambition. It is 
both cruel and stupid. All cruelty is stupid. He should be in¬ 
dulged and controlled gently. His energy and ambition should 
be admired, appreciated and preserved. Ambition and eager¬ 
ness to do something good ought to be encouraged in both people 
and animals. They are among the noble and useful qualities of 
life which are too scarce. 

On the other hand, a slow, stupid horse ought not to be pun¬ 
ished or scolded for not being lively and full of energy. Both 
are as they were made, do not know anything different and 
cannot be made different, except that the spirit of the proud 
horse can be broken by abuse, and he be made a poor, dispirited 
and dejected creature, just as some people have become broken- 
spirited from the same cause. There are few sadder sights than 
this, of noble qualities misunderstood and destroyed by ignorance 
and cruelty. 

The slow, dull horse, on the other hand, can be made a 

timid, nervous creature, living his life in fear and misery. Both 
can be tormented, made unhappy, have their dispositions ruined 
and spirits broken by undeserved punishment or stupid abuse, 
exactly as your temper would be spoiled and your heart discour¬ 
aged by being scolded and pulled back all the time, and your 

150 


eagerness to be doing something good balked and blamed. It 
would be the same if you were not very quick, but doing the 
best you could, and yet were scolded and blamed for not doing 
better. 


Imagine yourself a spirited, active, fast horse and describe 
fully how you would like to be treated and why. Imagine your¬ 
self a dull, heavy, plodding horse, and describe fully how you 
would like to be treated. What is the best way to find out how 
aniamls and people should be treated? Why? 

- * - 

Teasing and Petting Animals 

N EVER tease a horse, dog or other animal. It tends to spoil 
their tempers and to make them vindictive and dangerous. 
They do not know enough to understand teasing as we do, so they 
resent it. They are helpless and cannot escape. 

Teasing is generally thoughtless. If it is practised on some 
person who can take care of himself and give as good as he gets, 
there need not be much harm in it, because no mischief is done. 

But if it is practiced on the helpless, either children or ani¬ 
mals, so that it hurts their feelings or makes them angry, it not 
only is foolish but also mean and cowardly. It is true of chil¬ 
dren and of all animals. 

The temper and disposition of good dogs is very often 
ruined by the teasing of mischievous boys who think it is fun, and 
who do not realize how mean and cowardly it is. The dog does 
not like it, does not understand it, and often becomes vicious in 
self-defense. Sometimes he is killed because he has become 
vicious, when the boys who teased him are the ones who should be 
punished. It is natural and right for animals to defend them¬ 
selves, and that is what they are doing when they resent teasing. 
If you have to tease somebody take somebody able to defend 




himself. Don’t be cowardly and cruel enough to tease your little 
brother or sister or your horse, dog or cat. 

On the other hand, almost all animals love to be petted. 
Kindness and caresses will win over almost any animal, provided 
you treat him well in other ways. Caresses and soft words do 
not make up for food, water and shelter, and if you lavish 
petting on an animal you neglect in other and more important 
ways, you are sure of the contempt of all sensible and just per¬ 
sons. Pet them all you want to but first see that their wants 
are supplied. 

-*- 

Why and how does it hurt you to be teased? If you teased 
a dog till he bit you, or a horse till he kicked you, who would 
be to blame and who ought to be punished? Why? Which 
is worse, to let somebody else be punished for your fault or to 
be punished yourself ? Why? If you were hungry, thirsty, cold, 
sick, lame or sore which would you want first, caresses and soft 
words, or food, drink, warmth and care? Why? Explain why 
it is cowardly to neglect or abuse a dumb animal. Is it cowardly 
to be cruel? Why? Can a man be both brave and cruel? 
Explain why. 

Explain how it is possible to admire some things and de¬ 
spise others in the same person. How can you tell which traits 
are good and which bad? Ought you to be fair and just to 
persons and animals you do not like, and who do not like you? 
Why? 

What is there wrong about petting a horse or dog at one 
time, and kicking him at another time if you feel like it? What 
is the difference between punishment and abuse? Between 
neglect and abuse? Explain fully what punishment is for. 
Have you any right to punish unless the creature punished 
knows why, and will be bettered by it? Why? Why is pun¬ 
ishment to be avoided as much as possible? Is it right or wise 

152 




to punish when you are angry? Why? Explain when it is 
proper and necessary to punish? Why should you always re¬ 
member how much less animals know than you? Why should 
you keep in mind the reason you are punishing? Why are 
teaching and persuasion better than punishment when it is pos¬ 
sible to use them? Explain fully. 

- * - 


Slipping, Stumbling and Fallen Horses 

D RIVING a horse fast up hill exhausts him quickly. Driving 
him fast down hill causes great strain and jar to his forelegs 
and if 1 likely to make him stumble. When he does slip, or stum¬ 
ble, it is no more his fault than it is yours when you slip and 
stumble. 

» 

Never strike, jerk or scold him for doing any of these things, 

but find out what the cause is and then remove it. It may be 

153 












that he is not shod properly, his feet may be tender or his legs 
weak, he may be tired, the road may be rough or slippery, or 
there may be something else to make his steps uncertain. A two¬ 
wheeled cart often swings a horse off his feet. 

When a horse falls if there is any danger of his plunging 
or kicking when he gets up, hold his head down till he can be 
unhitched. If he has fallen on ice or snow and it is hard for him 
to get up, spread a blanket or shovel some cinders or dirt for 
him to put his forefeet on in getting up. 


Imagine yourself a horse and describe your feelings if hur¬ 
ried or urged when drawing or carrying a heavy load up hill. 
Imagine and describe your feelings if you were scolded and 
struck when you slip or stumble. What would you do to pre¬ 
vent a horse from falling if you were driving him on a slippery 
or icy road ? Tell how you would want to be treated if you were 
a horse and had slipped, fallen or stumbled. 

- * - 

Shying, Kicking, Rearing, Biting, Runaway Horses 

LMOST all the bad and dangerous habits of horses which 



/V sometimes appear to come from a bad disposition really arise 
from some cause which can be found and removed. Some de¬ 
fect of his body or mind, some pain, annoyance or abuse 1 v om 
which he has suffered in times past accounts for most of the tricks 


and bad habits for which horses are often unjustly and cruelly 


punished and abused. In most cases where animals misbehave, 
as it is called, what they need is good sense and kindness instead 
of punishment. The cause for apparent misbehavior is more 
often than not something from which they suffer, which they 
cannot help, and which it would be cruel to punish them for. 
The horse cannot tell what the trouble is and is abused for what 
would make us feel sorry for him and pity him if we knew the 
facts. 


154 




For example, shying is generally caused by defective eyes, 
by having been injured, by fear or some similar reason, for 
which the poor creature should be pitied rather than blamed. 
Runaways generally arise from a sudden fright or from the 
peculiar liability of a horse to be seized with sudden panic, a 
wild, unreasonable fear of nothing in particular. To prevent 
shying, remove the cause. To prevent runaways, don’t let your 
horse get started. 

A kicking horse is often made by something falling against 
his hind legs and hurting him. Instinctively he kicks to protect 
himself. A biting horse is often made so by teasing him. He 
bites to protect himself. A horse rears to get away from some¬ 
thing which frightens, annoys or hurts him. Habits in horses 
are quickly formed, just as in ourselves. Balky horses are made 
by overloading, getting them discouraged and sullen. 

There is a reason for everything which goes apparently 
wrong. The only sensible thing to do is to find the cause and, if 
possible, remove it. That is true of everything else as well as of 
the conduct of animals. 


Imagine yourself a horse and describe in how many ways 
you could show it if you were being hurt. Would you strike or 
otherwise punish your horse if he shies? Why? Explain why 
defective eyes may make a horse shy. 

Imagine yourself a horse and state fully wiiat you would 
say to your driver, if you could, about any of the bad habits 
mentioned in, this lesson. How many things can you think of 
that might make a horse kick? Rear? Bite? Shy? Runaway? 
Lunge forward? Why is a horse or other animal to be treated 
like a dumb child ? What should you always do when an animal 
acts in an unusual manner? Why? 


155 



Interfering and Over-Reaching 

S OME horses in trotting strike the inside of one fore ankle with 
the inside of the other fore hoof. This is called interfering. 
Unless prevented it makes a very sore and painful bruise on the 
ankle. 

Some horses swing the hind hoof a little too far ahead and 
strike the heel of the fore foot with the toe of the hind foot. 
This is called over-reaching or forging. It also makes a painful 
bruise and sometimes severely strains and wrenches the horse. 
Both these things should be carefully watched and horses not 
allowed to go on injuring themselves in this way. Both are 
sometimes natural but oftener are caused by improper shoeing 
the shoe in case of interfering sometimes being set too far inside, 
in the case of forging sometimes projecting too far forward, or 
the weight of the shoe sometimes causing the foot to swing out of 
its usual course. As soon as discovered protect the ankles and 
prevent its recurrence. 


Strike your ankle or heel a sharp blow and describe the 
feeling. Describe fully what you would do in case of interfer¬ 


ing or over-reaching. 


Balky Horses 

T HE state of mind which causes a horse to balk is not clearly 
understood. It is likely that it differs somewhat with 
different horses. As near as can be determined it is oftenest an 
expression of sullenness, resentment and discouragement. The 
horse apparently makes up his mind he will not try any more. 
It is generally caused by overloading, beating and abuse. The 
horse seems to decide that it is of no use to try, that he can’t; 
pull the load, and that he will be beaten anyway, whether he 

tries or not. So, whenever he happens to think of it, his feel- 

156 





Elephant Piling Teak Logs in Ranpoon, Burma. He does not balk 

Courtesy of Hamish Lauchlin McLaurin. Denver. Colo. 


ing of bitterness and resentment comes over him again and he 
balks. People act and apparently feel in exactly the same way. 

It is almost always useless to punish the horse. Besides, 
it is unjust. The fault was not his to start with, nor is it now. 

The treatment is exactly the same as for a balky or sullen 
child. That is, get his mind off himself, and get him to think 
of something else. Many methods are used but their objects are 
the same. Hardly any two horsemen favor most the same 
method. But all of them agree that whipping and abuse do not 
do any good and are very cruel. 

Explain fully and in your own words why a horse balks. 

Explain fully why you balk and how you feel. Describe how 

157 




The colt is standing so his mother’s tail will keep off the flies. If his mother had been 
docked she could not keep the flies off herself or her colt 


to cure yourself of balking. Describe all the different ways you 
can find of curing a balky horse and explain which ones are 
wrong, if any, and why. What is the difference between start¬ 
ing a balky horse and curing him ? Why is it wrong and foolish 
to lose your temper over a balky horse? What do you mean 
by losing your temper? 

- * - 

Flies and Gnats 

H ORSES are very nervous animals, some of them more so than 
others. Flies and gnats annoy and distress them very 

much. When flies, mosquitoes and gnats are very bad, horses 

158 






exposed to their attacks quickly begin to lose flesh. In some 
countries the attacks of insects are fatal to animals. 

Horses and some other animals have the power to twitch 
the skin on the fore part of the body and thus dislodge insects. 
Their hinder parts can be protected by their tails. Twitching 
the skin, switching the tail, stamping and biting are all the 
natural means of protection from such insects horses and like 
animals have. 

These means of protection are more nearly sufficient in 
the field where the horse is at liberty, but when he is harnessed, 
or is tied in the barn where flies are especially thick they are 
not enough. Fly nets should be used in such cases, for the body 
and especially for the eyes, which are particularly subject to the 
attacks of flies. The stable should be kept dark if it can be. 
Kerosene and water sprayed around the stable where the flies 
breed will diminish their numbers a good deal. 

The tail should be left long. In muddy weather it can be 
tied up. The hideous cruelty of cutting off part of the bone 
and flesh of a horse’s tail and then searing the stump so the 
tail will never grow again, is a wicked and cruel thing in the 
same way that putting ou*t the horse’s eyes would be. It is 
called docking, and is supposed by some cruel and thoughtless 
people to give the horse a smart appearance, while in reality 
it destroys his beauty. 

The operation is very painful and after it has been per¬ 
formed the horse can never again protect himself against in¬ 
sects. In almost all civilized countries docking is a criminal 
offense. Yet in great cities many docked horses can be seen, 
because it is a crime committed in secret, and the evidence of 
who did it cannot be obtained. The person who pays to have it 
done is often as guilty as the man who does it and sometimes 
more so. It will go out of use as people grow kinder and more 
intelligent. 

The tendons under the tail are sometimes cut after a horse 

159 


is docked so he can never draw the tail down again. This is 
called nicking. Docking and nicking go together—both cowardly 
cruelties. 


Explain fully why docking and nicking horses are both so- 
cruel that the law makes them crimes. What is a crime? 


Rest and Holidays 


NIMALS which work, exactly like people who work, need rest 



and occasional holidays. All creatures have a right to com¬ 
fort and happiness and those who work have an especial right 
because they earn it. Moreover, they do their work better, do 
more of it and keep their health and strength better. It i3 for 
the interest of their owners to treat animals as well as possible 
in all ways, and this is one of them. It is so much for the own¬ 
er’s interest to treat his animals well that only stupid and reck¬ 
less people will ever ill-treat, neglect or abuse their aniraals r 
whether they care anything for the comfort, rights and happi¬ 
ness of the animals themselves or not. 

Horses, for example, should not work too many hours a 
day, should rest one day in the week and should have an occa¬ 
sional week or month in pasture, when possible. This is almost 
always possible for work animals, even in cities, and pays their 
owners well. 


Is it well for any creature to work seven days ja week? 
Why? Explain what you mean by resting and holidays. De¬ 
scribe a good resting place for work horses. 


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